Americans will see a rise in coronavirus testing in the coming days as the Trump administration sends millions of rapid tests that produce a diagnosis in minutes across the country, according to Vice President Mike Pence.
“Americans should anticipate that cases will rise in the days ahead,” Mr Pence said during a White House event announcing the deployment of the test kits.
Mr Pence made the blunt remark during an event in which Donald Trump announced his administration is sending 100m rapid, point-of-care tests across the country.
It will be rushed first to at-risk groups like the elderly, but also be sent to some schools so teachers can feel better about being in classrooms.
“Nobody could have done this,” Mr Trump said earlier during the event, also saying the expected spike in cases as the rapid tests are deployed “should not cause undue alarm.”
There are at least 7.2m cases in the United States and over 204,000 deaths.
But Mr Trump on Monday claimed the American mortality rate is among the best in the world, and he urged citizens to monitor the death toll rather than the number of confirmed cases.
