White House Coronavirus Predictions Differ: 'Rounding The Corner' Or 'Most Deadly Phase'?

President Trump is once again at odds with COVID-19 taskforce officials after stating that the coronavirus will disappear and the pandemic will soon be over.

In an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post, Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, emphasized the urgency of the virus and said the U.S. is entering the “most deadly phase of this pandemic,” which could lead to increased mortality. In contradiction, Trump has said the U.S. “rounding the corner” on the pandemic.

“This is not about lockdowns — It hasn’t been about lockdowns since March or April,” she continued in the memo. “It’s about an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented.”

Birx has become increasingly frustrated for being “ignored” by White House officials as she continues to warn about the dangers of a second and third wave of the coronavirus that could come this fall and winter, a top administrative official told the Post.

The U.S. has nearly 9.3 million positive cases of the coronavirus, with over 231,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Cases are also surging in several regions of the country in what some consider a second wave of the virus, as Birx has predicted.

Birx’s memo also recommended “much more aggressive action from messaging, to testing, to surging personnel around the country before the crisis point,” the Post said. The memo called out Trump for his campaign rallies that featured many supporters who did not socially distance or wear face masks.

Birx is not the only member of the coronavirus taskforce that Trump has been at odds with. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert and director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is also a leading member of the task force that Trump has seemed to disregard.

Most recently, at a campaign rally, Trump backed supporters who chanted their request to see him “Fire Fauci”.