The White House is in the early stages of winding down its coronavirus task force, Vice President Pence’s office confirmed Tuesday.
The surprise decision comes as most states are preparing to loosen restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus, while a number of areas continue to see increases in new COVID-19 cases and deaths.
Pence’s office confirmed to The Hill that the vice president told reporters at a limited briefing that his plan is to scale back the task force’s role by Memorial Day. Pence has been leading the task force since late February.
Members are likely to return to their respective departments and manage the coronavirus response from there.
Dr. Deborah Birx, who was brought in from the State Department to coordinate the White House virus response, will “continue to review and analyze data and work with the departments in agencies to help that data inform their decision making processes,” a spokesman for Pence’s office said.
The New York Times first reported on the expected demise of the task force.
The task force, which includes nearly two dozen officials from various government agencies, held near-daily press briefings for more than a month but has been less visible in recent weeks as President Trump and others transition their focus to the economic consequences of the pandemic.
There have been no coronavirus task force briefings in more than a week, and the daily meetings have become less frequent. The group was scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon.
But the decision to formally disband the task force is sure to raise concern among public health experts who have warned the coronavirus will likely be part of life in the U.S. until there is a widely available vaccine, which could take a year or longer to develop.
HENRY KOTULA 