96°F
weather icon Clear
Las Vegas, NV
Nation and World

US task force leader says pandemic in new phase

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx participates in a roundtable on d ...
White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx participates in a roundtable on donating plasma at the American Red Cross national headquarters on Thursday, July 30, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
A man prays with only a few other parishioners as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 du ...
A man prays with only a few other parishioners as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 during Mass at the Our Lady of Consolation Parish on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Quezon city, Philippines. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines continues to surge Sunday as medical groups declared the country was waging a losing battle against the contagion and asked the president to reimpose a lockdown in the capital. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
Parishioners wearing masks as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 pray during a Mass at ...
Parishioners wearing masks as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID19 pray during a Mass at the Our Lady of Consolation Parish on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, in Quezon city, Philippines. Coronavirus infections in the Philippines continues to surge Sunday as medical groups declared the country was waging "a losing battle" against the contagion and asked the president to reimpose a lockdown in the capital. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
People cross the streets in Tokyo Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Confirmed coronavirus cases are hoverin ...
People cross the streets in Tokyo Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020. Confirmed coronavirus cases are hovering at near record levels in Japan, raising worries the pandemic may be growing more difficult to control. The Tokyo government reported more than 290 new cases Sunday, about half in their 20s. (Kyodo News via AP)
More Stories
Cottonwood Peak Fire burning in Elko County, Nevada on August 16, 2025. (Bureau of Land Managem ...
Cottonwood Peak Fire burns more than 22,000 acres in Northern Nevada
The Metropolitan Police Department's headquarters in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Re ...
Israeli official arrested in sting targeting alleged child sex predators, media reports say
(Getty Images)
More than 130 quakes have hit Northern California. What’s causing them?
President Donald Trump's name is printed on a stimulus check issued by the IRS to help combat t ...
No, taxpayers will not receive new stimulus checks this summer
The Associated Press
August 2, 2020 - 11:26 am
 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — White House coronavirus task force leader Dr. Deborah Birx says widespread coronavirus infections in urban and rural America mark a “new phase” for the pandemic as she doubled down on calls to wear face masks and observe social distancing measures.

Birx, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning, said “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread.”

The United States has the world’s biggest number of cases at 4.6 million, or one-quarter of the total, and 154,361 deaths. Birx said mitigation efforts across the west and the south are beginning to work but warned that people need to take the virus seriously and employ significant safety precautions when cases first begin to tick up.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
USDA Choice beef is displayed in a cooler at the Tom Thumb grocery store on Live Oak Street, ju ...
Get ready for higher beef prices in the US
By Gerson Freitas Jr. Bloomberg News

American beef lovers may face even leaner plates and higher prices next year as US production shrinks to a decade low and tariffs limit imports, according to a US government projection.

Read More
MORE STORIES