White House Coronavirus Task Force fades further as fear of second wave emerges – NBC

Early Wednesday morning in Asia, NBC came out with the news suggesting that the White House task force, assembled by President Donald Trump, met formally just three times recently. In doing so, the group seems to ignore the coronavirus (COVID-19) spread and warnings from the health experts, said the report.

Key quotes

In a new sign that the task force's work may be nearing an end, its members have begun drafting a final after-action report highlighting the president's response that’s expected to be completed in the coming weeks, according to two senior administration officials.

At the same time, the White House’s effort to reshape the task force to more closely align with Trump’s optimism about possible vaccines and treatments for the virus has been rocky.

Fauci told Stat News, in an interview published this week but conducted earlier, that his meetings with Trump have been ‘dramatically decreased.’

Trump has, at times, tried to tether himself to Fauci when it serves his defense of the administration’s handling of the coronavirus, but that has not been the case in recent weeks.

FX implications

While a lack of activity during the pre-Tokyo Asian session seems to restrict the market’s reaction to the news, the update weighs on the risk-tone following the release. As a result, S&P 500 Futures drop 0.08% to 3,075 by the press time.