White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said Monday there is ‘no second wave’ coming of the coronavirus as the administration ended the temperature checks required to enter the complex.
‘There is no second wave coming. It’s just hot spots. They send in CDC teams, we’ve got the testing procedures, we’ve got the diagnostics, we’ve got the PPE. And so I really think it’s a pretty good situation,’ Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council and chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump, told CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box.’
The United States has 2.32 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 122,000 died.
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said there is ‘no second wave’ coming of the coronavirus even as some administration officials say one could come this fall
![Meanwhile, the White House stopped its practice of taking the temperature of people before they were allowed to go through the gates](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/22/17/29917662-8447611-image-a-11_1592842527227.jpg)
Meanwhile, the White House stopped its practice of taking the temperature of people before they were allowed to go through the gates
Several states in the reopening process, including Texas, Oklahoma and Florida, have seen increased number of cases as stay at home orders have eased up and businesses have begun to reopen.
Nationwide, there has been a 15 per cent increase in cases over the past two weeks, with the biggest jumps coming in the South, West and Midwest.
The White House is preparing for a possible second wave coming this fall, despite Kudlow’s assertion.
‘We are filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall. We are doing everything we can beneath the surface, working as hard as we possibly can,″ trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNN on Sunday. ‘You prepare — you prepare for what can possibly happen. I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but of course you prepare.’
The conflicting comments come as the White House ended its practice of conducting temperature checks at the entrance gates.
Previously, any one going into the White House got a temperature check and asked health questions at the tent before going inside the gates.
The White House said the change came about because Washington D.C. entered phase 2 of reopening but noted people meeting with President Trump will still have to undergo a coronavirus test.
‘In conjunction with Washington, D.C. entering Phase Two today, the White House is scaling back complex-wide temperature checks,’ deputy press secretary Judd Deere told DailyMail.com in a statement.
‘In addition to social distancing, hand sanitizer, regular deep cleaning of all work spaces, and voluntary facial coverings, every staff member and guest in close proximity to the president and vice president is still being temperature checked, asked symptom histories, and tested for COVID-19,’ he said.
The tent at the north gate of the White House, where staff, members of the media and those scheduled to meet the president enter the complex, was taken down Monday morning.
![Journalists going into the White House on Monday morning tweeted that the tent that had been up for the temperature checks was coming down](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/22/17/29917680-8447611-image-a-12_1592842556554.jpg)
Journalists going into the White House on Monday morning tweeted that the tent that had been up for the temperature checks was coming down
![By mid morning on Monday the tent was gone and the medical equipment was being packed up](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/22/17/29919708-8447611-image-a-13_1592842563297.jpg)
By mid morning on Monday the tent was gone and the medical equipment was being packed up
![Supplies and tables used for several months for coronavirus disease screening and temperature checks sit unattended outside the Northwest gate of the White House](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/22/17/29919716-8447611-image-a-14_1592842567601.jpg)
Supplies and tables used for several months for coronavirus disease screening and temperature checks sit unattended outside the Northwest gate of the White House
![Previously the White House required anyone - Attorney General Bill Barr is seen above last week - to get a temperature check before going through the gate](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/06/22/17/29917670-8447611-image-a-15_1592842723834.jpg)
Previously the White House required anyone – Attorney General Bill Barr is seen above last week – to get a temperature check before going through the gate
After staffers in close proximity to President Trump tested positive for the coronavirus, the White House stepped up its precautions against the disease, asking staff to wear masks and testing anyone meeting with the president.
But masks have been worn less frequently by staff in the West Wing in the last few weeks.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said last week that wearing them was not required.
‘So, masks are recommended, but not required,’ she said.
McEnany, as with several senior administration staffers who are in close proximity to the president, are tested regularly for COVID-19.