WASHINGTON — A member of the White House coronavirus task force says the increase in U.S. cases isn’t just because of more testing.
Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. says the proof of the increase is the uptick in hospitalizations and deaths nationwide from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
Cases of the virus are spiking across the country, particularly across the upper Midwest. Last week, the U.S. recorded two days of record increases of new COVID-19 cases.
President Donald Trump has been saying the U.S. is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic. The president also contends the news media are spending too much time focusing on the health crisis.
However, a model by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington — a model routinely cited by the White House — notes that hospital resource use has risen steadily in recent weeks and is projected to spike in the coming days.
Giroir, who was put in charge of coronavirus testing by Trump, says the nation is at “another critical point” in the response to the pandemic.
He is urging people to keep wearing masks, wash their hands and practice social distancing. Giroir says a safe and effective vaccine is “around the corner.”