Pence says coronavirus 'two to three times' more contagious than flu, predicts thousands of more cases in US
Vice President Mike Pence, who is the head of the White House coronavirus task force, has warned that the novel coronavirus is much more dangerous than the seasonal flu and said he expects thousands of more cases across the country.
"It’s two or three times more contagious than a respiratory illness," he said during an interview on Fox & Friends. "And so we’ll have thousands of more cases across this country. But your viewers deserve to know that most Americans – the vast majority of Americans who contract the virus – will have flu-like symptoms and will fully recover."
"The risk to the average American of contracting the coronavirus remains low," he continued. "But we do know that seniors with serious underlying chronic health conditions are particularly vulnerable to very serious outcomes."
Pence also defended Trump's controversial decision to ban travel between the US and Europe for 30 days and the president's comments that the virus was "seeded" in the country by EU travelers.
"This is the most aggressive and comprehensive effort to confront a foreign virus in modern history," Trump had said, during what was only his second Oval Office address as president. "I am confident that by counting and continuing to take these tough measures, we will significantly reduce the threat to our citizens, and we will ultimately and expeditiously defeat this virus."
Pence noted that there was precedence for such a decision as Trump had banned travel from China shortly after the virus broke out in Wuhan, and had released travel advisories for South Korea and Italy following outbreaks in those countries.
"The reality is the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic has moved from China and South Korea to Europe," Pence said. "Our task force has been tracking that. We brought that information to the president in real-time and he made the decision in the Oval Office to suspend all travel from Europe for the next 30 days."
He shared that, of the 35 states that had outbreaks, 30 could trace the contact to someone in Europe, adding that every American returning from Europe would undergo screening at 13 separate airports and would be asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
"It’s part of the president’s strategy. We want to prevent the coronavirus from being brought into the country and then continue to focus on those communities where we have community spread even as we encourage best practices and common sense from every American," he explained.
Asked if there were enough kits in the country to test for the virus over reports that there were major shortages, Pence said the administration was working to "clear out any red tape" to make them immediately available.
"Right now every state lab in America can conduct testing. Anyone of the viewers that may have a concern can call their doctor and their doctor can contact a state lab to determine how to get a test processed," he said.