3:00
- ABC News
- May 7, 2020
Trump valet tests positive for coronavirus
The news has raised concerns about Trump's possible exposure to the virus.
3:00
Abbott called for the release of a Dallas salon owner earlier Thursday who was jailed for repeatedly defying his executive order to shut down her business.
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\"Throwing Texans in jail who have had their businesses shut down through no fault of their own is nonsensical, and I will not allow it to happen,\" Abbott said in a statement. \"That is why I am modifying my executive orders to ensure confinement is not a punishment for violating an order.\"
When coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx was asked if she approves of the Texas plan, Birx wouldn't go so far to call it a \"model state,\" explaining that all states are different, but she largely applauded the governor's efforts -- other than the reopening of nail salons.
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\"I think many people know I don't understand the nail salon piece, because I've never had my nails done. So I couldn't understand,\" Birx said. \"So, we talked about, you know, not having them in the first opening wave, because you can't really physically distance, and we had that discussion. And we agreed. And we've moved forward together.\"
The first phase of Abbott's plan to reopen the state went into effect last Friday with many businesses, including restaurants, malls and movie theaters, allowed to operate at 25% capacity. On Tuesday of this week, Abbot said that nail and hair salons, barbershops and swimming pools could reopen on Friday.
Moments before the meeting, the White House tweeted a list of personal protective equipment it has provided to Texas.
President @realDonaldTrump is meeting with Texas @GovAbbott today.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 7, 2020
Hundreds of millions of PPE items have been sent to Texas to bolster their frontline Coronavirus response! pic.twitter.com/Tq05FI0zHG
The Trump administration has decided against issuing additional formal guidelines for states and business owners on best practices for reopening, according to multiple officials.
The Associated Press first reported the story.
\"It was supposed to be published last Friday, but agency scientists were told the guidance 'would never see the light of day,'\" a CDC official told The AP, according to its report.
A task force official defended the decision to ABC News, saying that \"overly specific instructions\" beyond the already-issued guidelines on a phased reopening would be unhelpful and noting that the onus is on the states to make case-by-case decisions as best for their community.
This decision comes after President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence recently told governors about draft guidelines in the works, but even as these guidelines have been under recent consideration, a task force official had said there was always a possibility that they would not ultimately be issued.
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Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed her disapproval with the decision at her weekly news conference on Capitol Hill.
\"I think that the way this has been handled is most unfortunate, because first of all, they had guidelines, which were weak, but nonetheless guidelines, and then the president said you don't even have to honor them. And then we find out now that there was a CDC report that had much more comprehensive guidelines, and they buried it in the White House,\" Pelosi said.
Many of the states that are now moving to begin reopening haven't met phase one of the \"gating criteria\" for reopening but are still being cheered on by President Trump, who has grown increasingly eager to move forward with the reopening process.
ABC News' Jordyn Phelps and Katherine Faulders
A top Senate Democrat is demanding information from the Trump administration on efforts to distribute an anti-malarial drug to help states fight the coronavirus before it was rigorously vetted as a potential treatment.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, the ranking Democrat on the Senate panel that oversees the Department of Health and Human Services, asked Secretary Alex Azar to provide details to Congress on the distribution of hydroxychloroquine, according to a new letter obtained exclusively by ABC News.
Throughout March and April, President Trump and top administration officials touted the potential benefits of the anti-malarial drug, prompting a surge in demand for the drug. Some Republican and Democratic governors across the country also promoted its potential efficacy in treating COVID-19, despite a lack of clear scientific evidence.
In late April, the Food and Drug Administration warned of potentially serious side effects, and a preliminary study of the drug's use in early stages found a higher rate of death among patients using hydroxychloroquine compared to those who did not. (The study, funded by grants from the University of Virginia and the National Institutes of Health had yet to be reviewed by other scientists at the time of its release.)
\"It has become clear that the process was driven mainly -- if not solely -- by politics, and may have placed some COVID-19 patients in danger,\" Murray wrote.
Murray, the third-ranking Senate Democrat, asked HHS for information on how the drug was distributed from the national stockpile, and whether the FDA plans to change its emergency use policy.
The Washington Democrat isn't alone in raising concerns, Dr. Rick Bright, a former senior health official in the administration, alleged in a new complaint that he was removed from his post at the agency responsible for vaccine development after resisting efforts from political leaders at HHS to promote hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment.
ABC News' Benjamin Siegel
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miklitary
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