Amid the surge of new cases in the United States, the White House coronavirus task force, led by Mike Pence, held its first briefing in nearly two months, signalling a recognition that the administration can"t ignore the alarming increases. The vice president took the opportunity to hail the "remarkable progress" the Trump administration has had in dealing with the coronavirus outbreak as a surge across the South and West sent the number of confirmed new infections per day to an all-time high of 40,000