US Vice President Pence: Trends positive in virus hospitalizations

Vice President Mike Pence pointed to positive trends in U.S. hospitalizations and emergency room visits for the coronavirus, noting encouraging signs in New York, New Orleans, and Detroit as examples.

Following weeks of controversy that testing across the U.S. was not widely available, Pence said a total of 5.1 million Americans have been tested for the virus compared to 80,000 one month ago.

"As testing increases dramatically across the country, cases will increase as well," the vice president cautioned.

"But people should not be discouraged by those numbers. We are looking at very positive trends in hospitalization, in emergency room entrances," he said.

His comments came during an unusually short White House briefing on the virus, in which U.S. President Donald Trump took no questions.

Neither of the president's two top medical advisors on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, were in attendance for the briefing.

And the briefing was held only hours after Trump said his comments on Thursday suggesting people can ingest or inject disinfectant to fight COVID-19 was an attempt at sarcasm.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office Friday, Trump insisted his comments were misconstrued.

Trump’s remarks at Thursday’s briefing came after an administration official told reporters about how researchers are testing the effect of disinfectants on virus-laden saliva and respiratory fluids on surfaces.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and could lead to death.