Trump 'not happy' with China over failure to communicate about coronavirus outbreak: Pence

US Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday said President Donald Trump is “not happy” with China over its failure to communicate to America about the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan and his administration will take a closer look at the matter.

Pence vowed that the coronavirus testing in the US will increase substantially, allowing the country to progress according to the Trump administration's plan to gradually reopen the economy.

“It is clear to us that not only was there a failure by the World Health Organization to communicate to America and the world what was happening in China, but also that China was not as forthcoming as they should have been with America or the world about what was happening,” he said.

"The president has made it clear he's not happy. We're going to make proper inquiries into this at the proper time,” Pence told Fox News in an interview.

Pence was responding to a question what specifically is this administration going to do to hold China accountable.

Pence leads the White House Task Force on Coronavirus.

As of now, he asserted, the task force is focused on saving lives, to put this coronavirus in the past.

“We're going to stay focused on that mission. It's one mission and one team. We're going to work with governors across the country in both political parties,” he said.

Observing that the US is making progress in this fight against coronavirus, he said that there has been downward trends in new cases and in hospitalisations. “We really believe that because of what the American people have done, because of our incredible healthcare workers, that we are together as a nation hastening the day when we will put the coronavirus in the past and get America working again,” he said.

More than 7.4 lakh Americans so far have tested positive for coronavirus and fatalities count has crossed more than 38,900, according to the tracking done by Johns Hopkins University.

Globally 1.6 lakh people have died and 23 lakhs tested positive for the coronavirus, that originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December.

People of the United States, Pence said have stepped forward, embraced the social distancing, and have done the mitigation efforts.

“As we sit here this morning we continue to see encouraging results, declining cases, declining hospitalizations, because of what the American people have done, because of the president's leadership and what governors have done around the country,” he said.

“We are slowing the spread, we're hastening the day, when we can put the coronavirus in the past and re-open the American economy,” Pence said. 

Image Credits: AP