U.S. Passes 4M Cases; Cities Warned To Take 'Aggressive' Action

ACROSS AMERICA — As the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. surpassed 4 million Thursday, the White House coronavirus task force privately warned 11 U.S. cities to take "aggressive" steps to mitigate the spread of the virus.

In a phone call with state and city leaders, Dr. Deborah Birx called out cities seeing increases in the percentage of tests coming back positive and urged them to act quickly to stem the outbreaks.

Among Birx's recommendations were to trace the contacts of patients testing positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

“When you first see that increase in test positivity, that is when to start the mitigation efforts,” she said in a recording obtained by Public Integrity. “I know it may look small and you may say, ‘That only went from 5 to 5-and-a-half [percent], and we’re gonna wait and see what happens.’ If you wait another three or four or even five days, you’ll start to see a dramatic increase in cases.”

The cities Birx identified were Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.

Birx also told leaders the federal government is seeing encouraging declines in test positivity in places such as Phoenix and San Antonio but warned the outbreak in the Sun Belt is moving north.

The call was yet another private warning about the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreak, given to local officials but not the public at large. It came less than a week after the Center for Public Integrity revealed that the White House compiled a detailed report showing that 18 states were in the “red zone” for coronavirus cases, but did not release the document publicly.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump on Thursday said he had instructed his staff to cancel all components of the Republican National Convention scheduled next month in Jacksonville, Florida. Trump cited concerns about the recent "flare-up" in cases as he made the announcement during a briefing from the White House.

Trump's administration also dropped its bid to cut Social Security payroll taxes as Republicans prepared to unveil a $1 trillion COVID-19 rescue package, yielding to opposition to the idea among top Senate allies. Afterward, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin declared the administration had reached a "fundamental agreement" with Senate Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's proposal is an opening GOP bid in talks with top Capitol Hill Democrats — negotiations that could be rockier than March talks that produced a $2 trillion rescue package.

Total confirmed cases in the United States to passed 4 million on Thursday; the death toll was approaching more than 144,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

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