The surge in coronavirus cases seen across the South and Southwest can be linked back to the traveling people did around Memorial Day, White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said Wednesday.
Birx told Fox News’ Bret Baier Wednesday that the current spread of the pandemic — across the South, Southeast and into the Southwest and West — is very different than what the country experienced in March and April.
“What do I mean by that? This epidemic all appeared across the South and the West after June 10 simultaneously. Previously in the March-April timeframe, first we had the New York Metro following Washington state, and then a series of metros that went down in a period of time, often two or three weeks apart,” she said.
“This time, we saw wide virus spread across counties, across rural areas, across small metros and big metros, all the way across the South, Southwest and West, almost simultaneously. So, this was an event that we think can be traced Memorial Day and opening up as people [began] traveling again and being on vacation. And we're really tracking this because where it hasn't happened yet is our Midwest and our Northeast that was so hard hit in March and April. And so we're watching that very carefully.”