US stockpiles for an autumn second wave

THE White House is bracing for a potential second wave of Covid-19 in the autumn, an official said, as cases across the country rose by 15 per cent in the past fortnight.

Peter Navarro, the White House trade adviser, said the administration was replenishing its medical stockpile.

“We are filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall,” Mr Navarro said.

He said that the preparations did not indicate that a second wave was inevitable, but experts have warned that community spread of the virus still poses a threat, with 29 US states and territories reporting an increase in their seven-day average of new cases. The US has not yet seen a spike in cases related to the Black Lives Matter protests, which began in hundreds of cities two-and-a-half weeks ago, a study revealed.

It found “strong evidence” that the protests actually increased the numbers staying at home. While demonstrators did not practise social distancing, they were outside wearing masks, which appeared to limit the spread.

Speaking to CNN, Mr Navarro repeated the theory, regularly promoted by the Trump administration, that the virus was a “product of the Chinese Communist Party”, suggesting it may have been intentionally created.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organisation director general, warned that politicisation of the pandemic had “exacerbated” the problem with global cases of the virus rising at an alarming rate.