Trump to deliver 'good news' at coronavirus briefings: White House
By Lisa Lambert
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump resumes giving coronavirus briefings on Tuesday he will focus on his accomplishments and positive developments on treatments and vaccines, according to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
The briefings "may be daily," and typically will occur at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. EDT (2100 or 2200 GMT), McEnany told Fox News. As the novel coronavirus began to rapidly spread in the United States this spring, Trump frequently crowded onto the press room dais with experts leading the fight against the disease and spent hours fielding questions and presenting his thoughts on how to treat infections. The briefings tapered off this summer.
McEnany said that when Trump returns to the lectern to speak about the coronavirus that has claimed more than 140,000 U.S. lives he plans "on taking questions at these and delivering a lot of good news on therapeutics and vaccines and the way forward through this virus and showing our historic response also."
CNN reported earlier on Tuesday that it was unclear whether Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx, officials on the coronavirus task force who became household names during the spring briefings, would attend on Tuesday. Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the task force, is traveling.
At a press briefing later, McEnany said "you'll have to tune in to see" if other members of the task force attend the coronavirus briefing.
During a visit to South Carolina on Tuesday Pence said that task force members have been traveling the country to discuss the pandemic, saying he would visit Florida "in a few short days."
"We think it's important that our team is on the ground, that we're working closely with governors and with health officials," Pence said. "But we'll continue to brief, we'll continue to brief the country going forward."
(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
