Americans should shun the example set by President Donald Trump when it comes to indoor gatherings, Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Sunday.
Asked about White House and State Department plans to throw indoor parties all month while on NBC's "Meet the Press," Birx said it was "really important that every single person understands that the way this virus is spread is if you're with anyone indoors without a mask, that's a viral spreading opportunity."
Birx also said it was frustrating to hear Americans voice the Trump administration's skepticism of the benefits of mask use and avoiding large gatherings.
"I hear community members ... parroting back that masks don't work, parroting back that we should work towards herd immunity, parroting back that gatherings don't result in super-spreading events," she said. "And I think our job is to constantly say those are myths."
The comments came as the nation is in the midst of a ferocious surge in coronavirus cases.
On Friday, the U.S. had 228,000 new cases, a record for a single day.
