10 things you need to know today: February 27, 2020

Trump puts Pence in charge of coronavirus response, Biden gets key South Carolina endorsement from Clyburn, and more

Pence and Trump
(Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Trump puts Pence in charge of coronavirus response

President Trump on Wednesday appointed Vice President Mike Pence to lead the White House response to the coronavirus outbreak. In a news conference with officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Trump said the "risk remains really low" and "we're very, very ready for this." There are 81,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with nearly 3,000 deaths. There have been 15 confirmed infections in the United States. "We have quarantined those infected and those at risk," Trump said, adding that he would let Congress decide how much emergency funding to spend on minimizing the spread of the flu-like virus in the U.S. Trump's briefing came after he faced criticism from Democrats and some Republicans who said he was downplaying the coronavirus threat and not doing enough to protect Americans.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.