The Latest: US task force could wind down work by early June

The Latest on the coronavirus pandemic. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.

TOP OF THE HOUR:

—President Trump heads to Phoenix to tour Honeywell plant.

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—Britain’s official coronavirus death toll becomes highest in Europe.

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WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence says the White House coronavirus task force could wind down its work by early June.

Pence tells reporters at a White House briefing that the U.S. could be “in a very different place” by late May and early June. Pence says the administration is beginning to eye the Memorial Day to early June window as the appropriate time to have federal agencies manage the pandemic response in a more traditional way.

Pence’s comments came as an Associated Press analysis found infection rates rising even as states start to lift their lockdowns.

The vice president characterized the discussions as preliminary.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force coordinator, says the federal government will still keep a close eye on the data when if the task force disbands.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee officials have reported the first death of a state inmate who tested positive for the coronavirus — a man who was among the nearly 1,300 inmates who tested positive from one prison.

The state Department of Correction says the 67-year-old man was an inmate at Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is privately run by CoreCivic. The inmate was taken to the hospital April 25, tested positive there and died Monday, the department said.

The department says the...