Members of the Coronavirus Task Force, charged with leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, are holding a briefing Thursday at 5 p.m. Eastern. As the country braces for what President Trump described as a “rough” two weeks, Mr. Trump revealed he is examining whether to restrict domestic flights between hot spots as part of efforts to curtail the spread of the virus.
“I am looking where flights are going into hotspots. Some of those flights I didn’t like from the beginning,” Mr. Trump told reporters Wednesday. “But closing up every single flight on every single airline, that’s a very, very rough decision, but we are thinking about hotspots, where you go from spot to spot, both hot.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told “CBS This Morning” that the question of whether to ban domestic air travel is a matter the task force looks at “literally every day.”
How to watch the Coronavirus Task Force briefing
“It really depends on what city you’re talking about and from where you are coming,” Fauci said. “So this is something that you’re absolutely correct is on the table and is discussed.”
As the federal government works to address the coronavirus crisis, Fauci has emerged as one of the most recognized figures among the White House’s task force. Federal officials are boosting security for him after threats were made against him, officials from the Department of Justice confirmed to CBS News.
The Department of Health and Human Services requested that U.S. Marshals deputize a group of agents in the office of the Health and Human Services Inspector General to handle the doctor’s protection, and the request was approved by the Department of Justice, the officials said.
When asked about his enhanced security, Fauci told “CBS This Morning” he is focused on the job at hand.
“There’s a lot of pressure, I would be foolish to deny that, but that’s what I do,” he said. “I’ve been through crises like this before, dating back 37 years from the very beginning of the HIV epidemic. There’s a job to do, and we’ve just got to do it.”
