In March, Mike Pence Suggested The Worst Of The Pandemic Was Over
JakeThomas
Vice President Mike Pence suggested in a March interview with Fox News that the U.S. had possibly seen the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, paving the way for relaxing social distancing measures that negatively impacted the economy.
Fox’s Bill Hemmer asked Pence “what would be the trigger mechanism to tell certain parts of the country” it is okay to reopen their economies.
- The vice president responded saying that the goal of the administration's 15-day clamp down on social movements within the U.S. was to slow the virus’ spread and flatten the curve.
- “We were at the early point in the curve” when the measures were put in place, Pence said, adding that millions of Americans participated in the social distancing measures.
- “And what the President tasked our team to do at the White House coronavirus task force, with our top health experts, is to now evaluate the progress that we have made,” Pence said. “And bring the President recommendations for how we could begin to open America up in the weeks ahead.”
But the weeks following Pence's interview proved the vice president's suggestion inaccurate.
- Data from the World Health Organization shows that the U.S. saw its highest daily number of confirmed cases on April 26 (38,509), with daily numbers moving up and down in the weeks since.
- WHO data also show that the highest number of daily coronavirus deaths came on April 17 (6,409), with another spike on May 3 (5,000).
- On March 24, WHO records show 51,914 confirmed cases in the U.S.; on June 11, the total stands at 1,968,331.
- The total number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. on March 24 was 673; on June 11, the total is 111,978.
Since Pence’s interview, the U.S. has recorded an additional 1,916,417 confirmed cases and 111,305 deaths.
