i'm phil gayle welcome to the program the us is top public health official dr anthony fox he says the country's facing a serious problem as covered 19 infections surge in southern and western states many states are experiencing their highest rates of infections since the coronavirus crisis began worst affected are southern states like florida texas and arizona along with california texas ordered the closure of all bars. florida banned the sale of alcohol in pass on friday the u.s. coronavirus task force held its 1st press conference for 2 months as the number of confirmed cases continues to surge u.s. vice president mike pence called on young americans to follow social distancing guidelines saying they had a particular responsibility to do it though he didn't mention the wearing of masks younger americans across the son bill and the role that you can play in protecting the vulnerable and making sure that while the coronavirus doesn't represent as significant a threat for a serious outcome for to a younger american none of us would want to bring the disease back to our parents or grand

. ♪ >> i am phil gayle. welcome to the program.he united states top infectious disease expert says the country is facing a serious problem as covid-19 infections surge in southern and western states. many states are experiencing their highest infection rate since the crisis began. worst affected our southern states l like florida, texas, ad arizona, along with california, texas ordered all bars to close while florida bandits bars from selling alcohol. today, the u.s. coronavirus task force held its first price conference published press conference in two months. the vice president encouraged citizens to follow guidelines. >> we believe we had made progress. we are reminded as we see cases rising across the south that we still have work to do. so we say to every american, particularly those in counties and states being impacted by rising cases, that now is the time for everybody to continue to do their part. phil: let's go to our correspondent in washington. welcome. we have heard nothing from the coronavirus task force for the last