Trump appoints Pence to lead virus response as U.S. confirms its first case of unknown origin

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) issued separated statements criticizing Donald Trump’s response to coronavirus Wednesday, which the sepaker called “opaque and chaotic.”

“The American people need a well-coordinated, whole-of-government, fully-funded response to keep them safe from the coronavirus threat,” Pelosi wrote. “The Trump Administration has left critical positions in charge of managing pandemics at the National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security vacant.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who has been leading the coronavirus task force, was blindsided by the White House decision to put Vice President Pence in charge of the response to the virus outbreak, according to five people familiar with the situation, who said Azar learned of the decision only moments before the Wednesday evening news conference.

Pence is scheduled to run a coronavirus task force meeting at HHS on Thursday, two sources familiar with the plans said. One senior administration official said Pence was going to HHS to lead the meeting, instead of the White House, “as a show of support to Azar.”

The Chinese government on Thursday reported 433 new confirmed coronavirus infections, 29 new deaths and 508 new suspected cases by the end of the day Wednesday. Twenty-six of the deaths were in the Hubei province.

This brought China’s cumulative totals to 78,497 cases and 2,744 deaths. Experts have warned against gleaning too much from Chinese statistics and day-to-day changes.

As South Korea’s total number of coronavirus cases continued to grow Thursday, the U.S. Department of State issued a Level 3 travel advisory for the country — urging citizens to “avoid travel due to serious risks to safety and security.”

If travel to South Korea is essential, the State Department recommends adhering to CDC guidelines for the prevention of coronavirus.

SEOUL — The U.S. and South Korean militaries said Thursday they are postponing a key joint military exercise as South Korea reported another jump in coronavirus cases.

“In light of the ROK government’s declaration of the highest alert level ‘severe’ on COVID-19, the ROK-US Alliance made the decision to postpone the combined command post training for the ROK-US Combined Forces Command until further notice,” U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command said in a statement.

With 334 new virus cases, South Korea’s national tally of the virus jumped to 1,595, which includes a U.S. soldier stationed in the country.

A northern California person has contracted the coronavirus without traveling outside the United States or coming in contact with another patient known to have the infection, the first sign that the disease may be spreading within a local community, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday night.

How the person acquired the respiratory disease is unknown.

“It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of covid-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States,” the CDC said in a statement. The health agency left open the possibility, however “that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.”

Trump announced at a news conference that Vice President Pence will take over the White House’s coronavirus task force.

The president said the risk to Americans is “very low” and that people are being screened coming into the country from infected areas.

“We have quarantined those infected and those at risk,” he said.

Trump said he’ll leave it up to Congress to decide how much money to allocate in emergency funding, that he’s willing “to spend whatever is appropriate” and “be satisfied with whatever” amount.

Saudi Arabia suspended religious visits to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina on Thursday because of concerns about coronavirus, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.

The decision, which will affect those seeking to perform pilgrimage travel to the country, such as the Umrah pilgrimage, was aimed at forestalling the spread of the disease, according to the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel. The suspension will also affect those seeking to visit the Prohpet’s Mosque in Medina.

It wasn’t immediately clear how long the suspension would last.