On a private call with governors, Vice President Mike Pence told them to repeat the White House assertion that the spikes seen around the country in coronavirus cases are due to increased testing. The New York Times reports that claim is not true.
“On a call with the governors, audio of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Pence urged them “to continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of the increase in testing” in addressing the new outbreaks.”
The Times reports in at least 14 states, positive cases have outstripped the average number of tests being given.
While the number of hospitalizations has declined nationally, the number of positive cases has increased. The Times writes:
“As the head of the administration’s virus task force, Mr. Pence has frequently used his public appearances to play down the seriousness of the pandemic, even though several members of his staff have tested positive. Last week, he was criticized for taking a picture with dozens of Trump campaign staff members who were standing close together without wearing masks.“
Earlier on Monday, President Trump said that if the United States stopped testing now, “we’d have very few cases.” The U.S. is still averaging roughly twenty thousand coronavirus cases a day.