President Donald Trump met with executives from the oil industry on Friday as oil prices have dropped significantly in recent months worldwide.
The meeting came hours before Trump holds a coronavirus briefing in the White House. The briefing is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
While the spread of COVID-19 has largely caused oil prices to plummet due to fewer people traveling, increased production by Russia and Saudi Arabia has also caused a surge in supply, which has also caused prices to drop.
Travel is expected to remain restricted in the coming weeks as the number of global cases surpassed 1 million on Thursday. As of Friday afternoon, the United States accounts for one-fourth of all global COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, the White House's coronavirus task force is mulling new guidelines to call for the public to wear masks in public. Current CDC guidelines do not advise the public to wear masks, but research has suggested the asymptomatic people can spread COVID-19 simply by breathing and exhaling.
But the research is limited, and more studying is needed on the subject.
"While specific research on COVID-19 is limited, results of available studies support the possibility that viral particles can be spread via bioaerosols generated directly by exhalation of patients with COVID-19," the National Academies of Science wrote. "However, there is not currently enough evidence to confirm that these particles are viable and in amounts sufficient to cause infection."
