Mike Pence was criticized for his handling of Indiana?s HIV outbreak. He will lead the U.S. coronavirus response.

No need to wear a mask.)One of the researchers on the study, Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, tweeted Wednesday that Pence’s assignment overseeing coronavirus efforts “speaks to a lack of seriousness by the White House.”Pence also downplayed the risk of smoking as late as 2000, Vox first reported; he wrote in an op-ed on his congressional website: “Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.”On Wednesday, Trump emphasized that Pence would not be a coronavirus “czar” because “he is a part of the administration.”Pence said he looked forward to leading the federal response to the coronavirus.“As a former governor from the state where the first MERS case emerged in 2014,” he said, “I know full well the importance of presidential leadership, the importance of administration leadership, and the vital role of partnerships of state and local governments, and health authorities in responding to potential threats and dangerous infectious diseases.”The latest: President Trump announced that Vice President Pence will be in charge of coronavirus response.