Pence's virus tour takes him to mask-maker 3M, Washington State
Vice President Mike Pence is visiting surgical-mask maker 3M Co. and one of the U.S. areas hardest hit by the novel coronavirus on Thursday, as the Trump administration tries to show it has the outbreak under control.
Pence will meet 3M executives in Minneapolis to discuss ramping up mask production. From there, he'll travel to Olympia, Washington, to meet with Gov. Jay Inslee after the state reported its 10th death from the illness.
The trip comes amid criticism that President Donald Trump's administration has fumbled the distribution of coronavirus test kits, reinforcing uncertainty over how widely the virus has spread in the U.S. Pence, who is leading the White House coronavirus task force, has repeatedly said the risk to Americans remains low.
So far, 11 people have died from coronavirus in the U.S. The deaths have centered around a nursing home in Kirkland, Washington -- near Seattle -- where there are a large number of suspected patients.
Pence said Wednesday that he had no reservations about visiting Washington, and he complimented the work of Inslee, a Democrat, in dealing with the outbreak.
"I have no hesitation at all," Pence said. "The job that Washington state has done in confronting the coronavirus infections in the Seattle area has really been inspiring."
There may still be tensions at the meeting. Inslee ran for the Democratic nomination to challenge Trump for the White House and he has criticized the administration's response to coronavirus, even accusing it of lying in a Feb. 27 tweet from his personal account.
In a subsequent tweet Wednesday from his official account, Inslee thanked the administration for lifting restrictions on testing, changes that he had asked for: "I appreciate the responsiveness to state requests on COVID-19."
Trump said Feb. 29 the U.S. had about 43 million surgical masks stockpiled to protect health-care workers who handle coronavirus patients. The Department of Health and Human Services has said the U.S. will require 3.5 billion face masks if the coronavirus outbreak reaches pandemic levels.
Pence said Wednesday that 3M "is poised to literally begin manufacturing millions more masks for our healthcare workers." He added that "there's no need for Americans to buy masks," which should be reserved for health-care professionals.
Stock markets have been volatile as the virus has continued to spread. The S&P 500 dropped about 2.5% on Thursday. On March 3, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates outside of a normal policy schedule -- the first emergency move since the 2008 financial crisis.
