Report: Coronavirus task force leader suggests Indy take ‘aggressive’ steps
WASHINGTON (WISH) — Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said Wednesday that Indianapolis and 10 other U.S. cities need to take “aggressive” steps to mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks, according to a report.
The 11 cities are seeing increases in the percentage of tests coming back positive for COVID-19, Birx said. She shared her concerns with local and state leaders in a private phone call Wednesday, according to an article from the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom based in Washington, D.C.
Birx said the cities at risk are Baltimore, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
The call was yet another private warning about the seriousness of the coronavirus outbreaks given to local officials but not the public at large. No Indianapolis officials have indicated they were part of the call.
Birx told hundreds of emergency managers and other state and local leaders that they should act quickly to stem the outbreaks. Among her recommendations were to trace the contacts of patients testing positive for COVID-19 in areas where test positivity is going up.
Gov. Eric Holcomb on Wednesday announced Indiana would start a mask mandate on Monday, joining neighboring states’ mandates. He said one of the reasons for the mask mandate was an increase in the COVID-19 positivity rate, now at 9%, rising from 7% on July 14. Holcomb did not mention any call with coronavirus task force members during his Wednesday coronavirus briefing where the mask mandate was announced.
The Center for Public Integrity article said it’s unclear who heard the warnings and was invited to the call, which was hosted by the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and closed to the press.
Birx said the federal government was seeing encouraging declines in test positivity in places like Phoenix and San Antonio but warned that the outbreak in the Sunbelt was moving north.