US Coronavirus adviser says 'herd immunity is not Trump policy'

A controversial White House adviser on the coronavirus pandemic, Dr. Scott Atlas, who was brought into the White House months after President Donald Trump formed his coronavirus task force, denied he is an advocate for "herd immunity."

Atlas told reporters "there has never been a policy recommendation to pursue that to the president. And that is not the president's policy."

"Herd immunity" occurs when a large enough percentage of the population becomes immune to a particular disease, sending in into decline.

"There has never been a desire to have cases spread through the community. That's a false story."

Atlas is not an epidemiologist, but a radiologist and senior fellow at Stanford University's conservative Hoover Institution.

In recent weeks, it has been widely reported that Trump has turned to him for advice on the pandemic over other task force members, such as Dr. Deborah Birx and Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Wednesday, Atlas said the U.S. trends regarding COVID-19 are positive, despite a daily death toll that continues to run in the hundreds, sometimes even over a thousand.

"Deaths per day are coming down," Atlas said.

"The number of people in the hospital is 47 percent lower than it was since its peak. The number of people sick with COVID illness coming to the emergency room is 1.6 percent, as the president said, the lowest number since the pandemic began."

Larry Kudlow, one of the president's top economic advisers also said the economic recovery is continuing, with increases in automobile production, home sales and homebuilder sentiment.

However, he added, "we have more work to do. There is still hardship and there is still heartbreak."