Trump "Reopen Economy Even If Death Toll Rises"... COVID-19 Task Force to Disband Soon

Strong Willingness to Restart Economy
Create Different Type of TF
Vice President Pence "TF Achieves Goals"
Concerns Over Premature Normalization

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] In the United States, which has begun to fully reopen its economy, the control tower for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is expected to disappear. President Donald Trump emphasized his stance to expand the reopening of economic activities even if the death toll increases, effectively acknowledging the disbandment of the task force (TF). Considering that the COVID-19 situation in the U.S. is still ongoing, concerns have been raised that this may be a hasty decision.

On the 5th (local time), President Trump, during a visit to the Honeywell mask factory in Arizona, stated, "The TF has done a remarkable job, but we will create a different kind of group."

On the 5th (local time), U.S. President Donald Trump (left) is looking at a mask held by Tony Stollings, Vice President of Honeywell, at the Honeywell factory in Phoenix, Arizona. Despite health experts' advice, President Trump appeared at the official event wearing only transparent goggles without a mask. This was President Trump's first official public event in 38 days. [Image source=AP Yonhap News]

On that day, the New York Times (NYT) reported that the White House COVID-19 TF would soon be disbanded, and President Trump seemed to confirm this.

When asked whether it was the right time to disband amid concerns of resurgence, President Trump replied, "We cannot shut down our country for the next five years," adding, "We need to focus on both safety and normalization."

However, he mentioned that even with normalization, social distancing, which has become part of life, can delay new outbreaks and deaths. He referred to the sharp rise in unemployment to over 30 million, emphasizing again, "We have to take back our country."

President Trump also added that Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and coordinator Debbie Birx, who have been outspoken, will participate in the new group.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters, "We are discussing when to disband the White House COVID-19 TF," and said, "We are considering starting to transfer COVID-19 response coordination to federal agencies around Memorial Day, May 25." The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was mentioned as the agency in question. Vice President Pence claimed that since the outbreak in the U.S. has reached its peak, the White House TF has achieved its goals, explaining that the conditions for disbanding the TF have been met.

The White House TF has rapidly lost momentum as President Trump has stopped attending briefings. He ceased attending after the controversy over his remarks about injecting disinfectants during TF briefings. Although he effectively conducted election campaigning during nearly two months of briefings, he is now turning his attention to events outside the White House. On the 3rd, President Trump appeared in a Fox News virtual town hall meeting, and on this day, he visited Honeywell’s mask manufacturing plant and gave an interview to ABC on site. It has been about 38 days since President Trump left Washington D.C. after sending off the Navy hospital ship Comfort bound for New York City.

In the ABC interview, President Trump also expressed a strong will to reopen the economy. He emphasized, "We have to reopen the economy even if the death toll increases."

An anonymous senior official told the NYT that if the TF is effectively disbanded, future responses will focus on treatment, vaccine development, and testing.

However, there are considerable concerns about the push to disband the White House TF. Although the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. is said to have peaked, the spread continues, and there are voices warning that hasty normalization could lead to another large-scale outbreak.

The NYT expressed concern, stating, "The gradual end of the TF will only deepen questions about whether the administration is properly organized to handle complex and life-or-death decisions, and whether scientists and health experts will have appropriate input in policymaking." The Hill evaluated, "The decision to disband will clearly heighten health experts' concerns who warned that the virus will remain part of life until a widely available vaccine exists."

Meanwhile, President Trump showed a negative stance toward federal government support for state governments, clashing with the Democratic Party. The New York Post reported that in an interview at the White House the previous day, President Trump said regarding federal support for state governments, "All the states that need help are run by Democrats, so (support for state governments) is not fair to Republicans."

He criticized that Florida and Texas, states with Republican governors, have little debt, while Illinois, New York, and California, states with Democratic governors, have "huge debts." In response, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, both Democrats, said, "The COVID-19 virus does not discriminate between Democrats and Republicans. It kills Americans," sharply criticizing President Trump, who is from New York, for "stabbing his hometown in the back."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.