Robert Redfield

President Donald Trump claimed Dr Robert Redfield was "confused" when he stated masks may be effective Covid-19 protection and that results from coronavirus vaccination would be visible on the second or third quarter of 2021.

Redfield, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), made both claims during a session of the Senate Appropriations Committee Wednesday.

Trump, answering reporters, said: "I think he made a mistake when he said that. It's just incorrect information."

"I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine, because the immunogenicity may be 70%. And if I don't get an immune response, the vaccine is not going to protect me. This face mask will," the director of the CDC told lawmakers in the Senate.

On Thursday, C.D.C. director Dr Robert Redfield warned that the numbers of Covid-19 infections are most likely to be 10 times higher than the official numbers of 2.3 million, basing these assumptions on recent antibody test results.

"Now that serology tests are available, which test for antibodies, the estimates we have right now show about 10 times more people have antibodies in the jurisdictions tested than had documented infections," so Redfield.

Trump administration health officials are testifying about the White House response to the coronavirus before the House Energy and Commerce Committee today. Among the health officials are Dr Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert and the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and Dr Robert Redfield, Director of the C.D.C.

Fauci told the committee that he believed "it will be when and not if" a vaccine would be ready and that he is "cautiously optimistic" that one will be available by the end of 2020 or early 2021. He further warned that "we're now seeing a disturbing surge of infections" but that the coronavirus task force was not asked to slow testing.

A statement by the C.D.C. was released prior to the hearing, warning that "Covid-19 activity will likely continue for some time" and that the virus "could place a tremendous burden on the health care system related to bed occupancy, laboratory testing needs, personal protective equipment and health care worker safety."