INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
In an early-evening press conference, President Donald Trump tapped Vice President Mike Pence to lead the United States response to the
COVID-19 outbreak that has spread through Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The new coronavirus strain, which has infected about 81,000 people
around the world and killed 3,000, has already wrought havoc on the global economy
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned yesterday that the United States will likely not be able to escape the spread of the
virus.
It not a question of if this will happen but when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illnesses,&
Nancy Messonier,director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, in a press conference given by the Centers for
Disease Control on Tuesday
&Disruption to everyday life might be severe.
Earlier this evening, California reported its first case of community transmission, which was
confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control, according to The New York Times
That a case where an infected person was not exposed to anyone known to be infected with the virus and had not traveled to countries where
the virus had spread.
THREAD: On New #COVID19 Diagnosis in California Tonight: We will have community spread of #coronavirus in the United
States It is likely that we have — right now — more cases that remain undiagnosed but will soon be revealed
We need to keep in mind several key points: 1/n
mdash; Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) February 27, 2020
Speaking alongside Pence;
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases head Dr
Anthony Fauci; and principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control Dr
Anne Schuchat, the President stressed that the United States government was &very, very ready& to respond to the disease.
Vice President
Pence said that the White House would continue to work closely with state and local officials, add additional personnel and work with
Congress to ensure that the necessary resources are available
&The threat to the American public remains low,& Pence said.
The White House is asking Congress for $2.5 billion to support efforts to stop
the spread of the virus in the United States while Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer have put an $8.5 billion price tag on the
coronavirus fight.
Secretary Azar outlined five areas where the government would look to spend money including: monitor the spread of the
virus, cooperate with local governments, develop therapeutics, develop vaccines, and manufacture and purchase personal protective
equipment.
Diagnosing the illness has been a particular problem for the United States According to multiple reports, the CDC isn''t
prepared to test for a potentially rapidly expanding number of cases in the United States
Only 12 of the 100 public health labs in the
United States are able to diagnose the coronavirus because of problems with a test developed by the CDC, according to a Politico
report.
What happens if a pandemic hits?
Better diagnostics tools are going to be one of the critical areas where startups could play a
role in combating the spread of the virus.
Where startups are going to make contributions is in detection, monitoring, epidemiological
predictions, sequencing, supply chain [and] distribution logistics,& wrote James Birch, an entrepreneur and former researcher with the
American College of Surgeons.
Scott Gottlieb, the former Food and Drug Administration chief and an investor with New Enterprise Associates,
has advocated for the expansion of Emergency Use Authorizations from the organization he used to lead as a way to respond to the need for
more, better diagnostic tests.
THREAD ON DIAGNOSTICS: In recent public health emergencies there been a stepwise approach to ramp up United
CDC develops test early in outbreak, then pursuant to Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from FDA CDC makes test available to network of
public health labs
mdash; Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) February 24, 2020
The lack of effective tests available to public health
facilities calls into question exactly how prepared the government is for the potential health crisis
In fact, the White House got rid of the pandemic response group in the Administration in a cost-cutting measure in 2018.
California recently
diagnosed new case also casts doubt on the government ability to effectively respond to the emerging illness
As the University of California Davis Medical Center wrote in an internal document:
Upon admission, our team asked public health officials
if this case could be COVID-19
We requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, since neither Sacramento County nor (the California Department of Public Health) is doing testing
for coronavirus at this time
Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19, a test was not immediately administered…
On Sunday, the CDC ordered
COVID-19 testing of the patient and the patient was put on airborne precautions and strict contact precautions
The positive test results were announced on Wednesday.
Also troubling to some healthcare observers is Pence own track record when it comes
to healthcare crises.
As governor of Indiana, Pence inaction led to an outbreak of HIV in one of the state more rural counties, according to
As drug use soared in the state during the opioid crisis, addicts in the county were also becoming infected with the virus because they were
Pence opposed a needle-sharing program, which could have limited the spread of the virus.
Fears about how the new coronavirus would impact
the economy rattled stock markets earlier this week as news of the disease spread to Europe were confirmed
The market slide and the political response in Washington played a role in the president decision to hold a press conference today, judging
by the president own Twitter account.
Low Ratings Fake News MSDNC (Comcast) - @CNN are doing everything possible to make the Caronavirus
look as bad as possible, including panicking markets, if possible
Likewise their incompetent Do Nothing Democrat comrades are all talk, no action
USA in great shape! @CDCgov…..
mdash; Donald J
Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 26, 2020
