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On Tuesday, US Vice President Mike Pence informed reporters that the Trump administration is considering winding down the White House coronavirus task force. The Wall Street Journal reported the vice president said the responsibility for the administration’s response would shift to government agencies and departments. Discussions are preliminary and there is no set date as to when the shift will happen, but Pence said that they are looking at the Memorial day window, early June window. He also said that he is in talks with the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) about formulating a transition plan. The vice president said, “We’re having conversations about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work and for the ongoing efforts to take place on an agency-by-agency level”.

The coronavirus task force members, including Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci, will still be consulted and involved in conversations with state officials and industry leaders. A formal end date may not be set. The task force is already meeting less frequently, and President Donald Trump is no longer linking his press briefings with the activities of the group. Both the president and Pence are also gradually ramping up their travel schedules and focussing more on opening up the country and getting people back to work, likely keeping in mind November’s election and the current dire economic situation.

The New York Times reported that a senior official said the administration’s response will now focus more on therapeutics, vaccine development, and testing. A separate group focused on coronavirus led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, will likely continue working and is also said to be focused on therapeutics. The model created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington now projects a doubling of US coronavirus deaths by 4 August, putting the total at approximately 134,000. A separate Trump administration model projects an increase in coronavirus deaths to approximately 3,000 per day by 1 June. The projected increases in both models are linked to the relaxed stance on social distancing adopted by several states.