Watch live: Pence briefing on coronavirus response

March 2, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence and Ambassador Deborah Birx, a top official coordinating the government’s coronavirus response, are briefing reporters on the administration’s efforts to contain the outbreak Monday evening. The administration has recently been holding some sort of briefing almost daily as the scope of the crisis grows.

Mr. Trump is trying to reassure the public the situation is under control, even as the second death from the virus in the U.S. was reported Sunday. The president is slated to meet with pharmaceutical executives Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, he’ll visit the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. And on Friday, he’ll visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta.

Speaking in the Oval Office on Monday morning, the president said he will discuss efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine at his meeting with pharmaceutical executives. “We’re talking about a vaccine, maybe even a cure,” he said, although experts say any vaccine wouldn’t be widely available for more than a year.

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How to watch:

What: Vice President Mike Pence and Ambassador Deborah Birx brief reporters on coronavirus
Date: Monday, March 2, 2020
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Location: White House briefing room, Washington, D.C.
Online stream: Live on CBSN — in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device

Pence is leading the administration’s coronavirus response efforts, and tapped Birx to assist him in responding to the crisis. Pence will be meeting with airline CEOs on Wednesday and cruise line CEOs Saturday as they look to contain the virus’ spread.

The administration has emphasized that most healthy Americans, particularly young ones, should pull through if they do become infected.

“Additional cases in the United States are likely but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover, and we think that will be a statement that we can make with great surety now that we’ve gotten familiar with this problem,” Mr. Trump told reporters in a last-minute press conference Saturday. “They should be able to recover should they contract the virus. So healthy people, if you’re healthy, you will probably go through a process and you’ll be fine.”