#Fauci blames young Americans for new coronavirus surge

WASHINGTON — White House coronavirus task force member Dr. Anthony Fauci on Friday singled out young Americans for spreading the coronavirus as daily cases in the US reach troubling new heights.

“The overwhelming majority of people who are now getting infected are young people, like the people that you see in the clips in the paper or out in the crowds enjoying themselves,” Fauci said.

“The thing that you really need to realize, that when you do that you are part of a process, so if you get infected, you will infect someone else,” he added.

The stark warning was delivered at the first coronavirus task force briefing in two months as the number of new cases across the country reached an all-time high, forcing some governors to halt their plans for reopening.

The number of new daily infections spiked to 40,000 on Friday, with the states of Florida, Arizona and Utah struggling under a tsunami of new cases. The number of COVID-19 cases is rising in more than 30 states.

More young people are testing positive for coronavirus in southern states where infections have resurged, with people under the age of 35 now representing nearly half of all new cases, Vice President Mike Pence noted.

Multiple officials took to the microphone to urge younger Americans to stop unwittingly spreading the virus to at-risk loved ones by gathering in large groups as they enjoy the summer weather in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

“I also want to appeal to the millennials and those that are under 40 — it’s really important that this group really commit themselves to these practices to protect those at risk,” CDC director Robert Redfield said of social distancing and face coverings.

Added Pence: “If there’s a message that comes through today, I hope it is saying to younger Americans in these states and in these countries in particular that they are a big part of the numbers that we are seeing in new cases.”

Pence said the task force was directed to brief the public by President Trump as states like Florida on Friday reported a staggering 8,942 new infections, nearly doubling its former daily record.

Unlike previous briefings which took place at the White House, Friday’s press conference was delivered at the health department’s DC headquarters.

Last month it was reported the task force, established in February at the outset of the crisis, was disbanding, but with a worrying uptick in cases, officials including Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx traveling to Arizona and Florida next week to get a ground report from local authorities.

Still, the vice president tried to strike an upbeat tone, citing the country’s adequate ventilator supply and the fact that many Americans were returning to work in states that had managed to combat the plague.

Pence also noted the fact that 34 states across the country are experiencing “a measure of stability” and that approximately half of the new infections in the US were in a group of people less likely to become seriously ill from the disease.

Both Pence and Birx said increased testing — now at 500,000 a day — was leading to more confirmed cases and noted that infection rates were actually decreasing.

“It’s almost inarguable that more testing is generating more cases,” Pence said, adding the new cases were “a reflection of a great success and expanding testing across the country.”

“We are not where we were two months ago,” he said.

On Tuesday, members of the task force testified before Congress where Fauci told lawmakers he was concerned by a “disturbing surge” of COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country and warned: “the virus is not going to disappear.”

“The next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges that we are seeing in Florida, in Texas, in Arizona and other states,” Fauci said.