Monday, 26 October 2020_The White House says the United States is "not going to control" the coronavirus pandemic amid a spike in cases across the country.
The US has seen its highest ever number of new virus cases in the past two days, recording 79,852 new infections on Saturday, close to the previous day's record of 84,244 new cases.
Hospitalizations are also rising and nearly 225,000 Americans have died from the infectious disease so far.
Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union" Sunday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said, "We are not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas."
This comes as the administration of President Donald Trump, who has been under criticism over his handling of the crisis, continues to consistently disregard advice from government health experts to wear masks, social distance and avoid large gatherings in order to stem the spread of the virus.
When asked by Tapper why the US will not be able to get the pandemic under control, Meadows said, "Because it is a contagious virus just like the flu."
However, he said, the administration is "making efforts to contain it," adding, "What we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don't die from this.”
With nine days to go before the Nov. 3 election, keeping the pandemic remains a top election issue as Vice President Mike Pence continues to campaign despite close aides testing positive.
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