US trade advisers links virus to China government
WASHINGTON -White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is calling the coronavirus a “product of the Chinese Communist Party” and suggesting without evidence it may have been intentionally created by the Chinese government.
Navarro says on CNN’S “State of the Union” that it remains unclear how the virus started and “until we get some information about what happened in those labs or what happened in that wet market, we know that the virus was spawned in China.”
President Donald Trump and his allies have been repeating the unsubstantiated theory linking the outbreak’s origin to a possible accident at a Chinese virology laboratory. U.S. officials describe the evidence as purely circumstantial.
The leading theory is that infection among humans began at an animal market in Wuhan.
Navarro says it’s “open question” whether the virus was purposefully created. He says in his view, the Chinese government is “guilty until proven innocent.”
HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
OKLAHOMA CITY — The number of newly confirmed coronavirus cases in Oklahoma has set a new daily record of 478.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health department reported Sunday that total confirmed cases rose to 10,515 from 10,037 a day earlier.
The state’s previous record of 450 new cases in one day was set Thursday. Interim state health Commissioner Dr. Lance Frye has said a surge in coronavirus cases was expected after the state began reopening in late April.
The new wave comes amid ongoing demonstrations to protest police killings of Black citizens, Juneteenth celebrations and a Saturday campaign rally U.S. President Donald Trump held at an indoor arena in Tulsa.
The health department on Sunday reported one virus-related death. Oklahoma’s COVID-19 death toll how stands at 369.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Florida has reported nearly 3,500 more new coronavirus cases as public health officials reissued advisories urging social distancing.
Some businesses are reevaluating decisions to reopen their doors, and some Floridians had to rethink Father’s Day brunch plans because of health concerns.
The number of new cases reported Sunday was a drop from the record high of 4,000 reported the day before.
Florida now has more than 97,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in all. The number of COVID-19 deaths eclipsed 3,160 with the addition of 17 more announced by health officials on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the infection rate remains high, with nearly 12% of recent tests coming back from laboratories as positive.
Despite rising cases in recent days, Gov. Ron Desantis has not signaled the possibility of any retreat from reopening the state after three months of closures.
PHOENIX — The U.S. state of Arizona has now passed the 50,000 mark in confirmed COVID-19 cases after reporting 2,952 new ones.
The additional cases reported by the state Department of Health Services on Sunday took Arizona’s statewide total in the coronavirus pandemic to 52,390.
Health officials also reported one more known death, pushing the statewide death toll so far to 1,339.
The state’s recent surge in new confirmed cases has set daily records for hospitalizations, ventilator use and use of intensive care beds for coronavirus patients.
Arizona reported record new cases numbering 3,109 on Saturday, 3,246 on Friday and 2,519 on Thursday. Health officials have attributed the increases to wider testing and to community spread of the virus.
WASHINGTON -- The acting U.S. homeland security secretary says he thinks the Trump administration is doing a “great job” with reopening the country during the coronavirus epidemic despite infections rising in key states.
Chad Wolf told NBC’S “Meet the Press” on Sunday that the White House coronavirus task force has been working with governors to make sure the United States “can open up this economy in a safe and reasonable way” and “I think that’s what we’re seeing.”
About 120,000 Americans have died from the new virus, and reported cases have been increasing in the South and West of the U.S..
Wolf said on CBS’S “Face the Nation” that the White House task force is “on top of all of these outbreaks,” including in Arizona, Texas, Florida and other states that “are having hot spots.”
He says the Trump administration has sent medical equipment, staff and Department of Homeland Security personnel to many areas to assist with reopening efforts.
WASHINGTON -White House trade adviser Peter Navarro says U.S. President Donald Trump was being “tongue in cheek” when he claimed at a campaign rally in Oklahoma that he asked officials to slow down coronavirus testing.
Navarro said on CNN’S “State of the Union” on Sunday that Trump made the comment in a “light moment.”
During Saturday’s rally in Tulsa, Trump explained that the “bad part” of widespread testing is that it leads to logging more virus cases. New cases have recently spiked in several U.S. states, but not just due to testing.
The United States has tested over 25 million people for the novel coronavirus. The country has reported more than 2.2 million confirmed cases and about 120,000 COVID-19 deaths. according to a count by Johns Hopkins University. The real numbers are believed to be higher.
In response to Trump’s remarks, Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden criticized Trump for putting politics ahead of the safety and health of Americans.