VP Pence is a Liar

This is from the New York  Times Coronavirus Live Updates section.  It will eventually roll to the bottom and not be visible.  This is worth keeping.
 

Pence urged governors to echo a misleading claim about infection spikes.

Vice President Mike Pence encouraged governors on Monday to adopt the administration’s claim that increased testing helps account for the new coronavirus outbreak reports, even though evidence has shown that the explanation is misleading.

On a call with the governors, audio of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Pence urged them “to continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of the increase in testing” in addressing the new outbreaks.

And he asked them to “encourage people with the news that we’re safely reopening the country.”

In fact, seven-day averages in several states with outbreaks have increased since May 31, and in at least 14 states, the positive case rate is increasing faster than the increase in the average number of tests, according to an analysis of data collected by The New York Times.

The vice president played down the overall size of the outbreaks, stressing that some states were seeing what he called “intermittent” spikes of the virus.

And he was dismissive of the idea that community spread is a culprit, focusing instead on specific outbreak locations, like nursing homes. In fact, as cases rise, officials in several states have specifically pointed a finger at community spread.

“The president often talks about embers,” Mr. Pence said, adding that “despite a mass increase in testing, we still averaging roughly 20,000 cases a day, which is significantly down from six weeks ago.”

Mr. Pence then instructed Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of Health and Human Services, to address the problem in a “constructive” way. Mr. Azar said that localized outbreaks at meat packing plants and nursing homes would be a continuing focus.

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, who is coordinating the administration’s response, said that hospitalization rates for coronavirus infections had generally been declining across the United States, though some states had seen an uptick. 

She said that areas of the country where protests have occurred not yet seen a rise in cases, though she said coronavirus data had begun to show “early upticks” in Minneapolis. 

Update to post 6/16:  Greg Sergeant of the WAPO did an excellent analysis of the above, which can be found here.