Will There Be A Second Wave Of Coronavirus In The US? Trump Economic Adviser Says No As Cases Surge

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that a second wave of the coronavirus “isn’t coming” to the U.S. despite cases surging in many states.

“There is no second wave coming. It’s just hot spots. They send in CDC teams, we’ve got the testing procedures, we’ve got the diagnostics, we’ve got the PPE. And so I really think it’s a pretty good situation,” Kudlow told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program. “Actually, I think nationwide the positivity rate is still quite low —well under 10%.”

On Friday, Arizona, Texas and Florida all saw record-high single-day increases in cases. Florida Gov. Ron Desantis said this weekend that he would ramp up enforcement of social distancing measures in crowded venues such as bars and nightclubs.

Kudlow has claimed that the Trump administration is well-equipped to handle these “hot spots.”

“There are some hot spots. We’re on it. We know how to deal with this stuff now, we’ve come a long way from last winter,” Kudlow said.

Kudlow had previously brushed off concerns about the virus. In February, he claimed the U.S. has contained the coronavirus outbreak “pretty close to airtight,” but later walked back the comments as cases surged.

President Trump has also been frequently criticized for downplaying the outbreak. During Trump’s rally in Oklahoma on Saturday, he claimed he had told staff to slow down testing for the virus, with advisers saying he was joking.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top member of Trump’s coronavirus task force, said last week that the U.S. is still in the first wave of the virus.

“When you have 20,000-plus infections per day, how can you talk about a second wave?” Fauci said. “We’re in the first wave. Let’s get out of the first wave before you have a second wave.”

The U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases in the world. As of Monday at 11:55 a.m. ET, there are more than 2.28 million domestic cases of the coronavirus and a death toll of nearly 120,000.