Tag: Trump mismanaged pandemic response

Fauci says task force ‘argued strongly’ with Trump to extend coronavirus guidelines

The Hill logoDr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, said Monday that the White House coronavirus task force aggressively lobbied President Trump to extend social distancing guidelines another month as the U.S. grapples with the fallout of the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

“We felt that if we prematurely pulled back, we would only form an acceleration or rebound of something, which would put you behind where you were before, and that’s a reason why we argued strongly with the president that he not withdraw those guidelines,” Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“And he did listen,” Fauci added. Continue reading.

11 to 100,000: What went wrong with coronavirus testing in the U.S.

Washington Post logoThe Facts

The novel coronavirus was first detected in early December in Wuhan, China. Chinese officials reported the pneumonia-like disease to the World Health Organization (WHO) at the end of December, but neglected to mention growing evidence that the virus could spread by human-to-human transmission through airborne droplets.

Still, China’s previous failures to be forthcoming about public health crises meant that public health officials elsewhere already were wary of its government’s official statements. As reports of the mysterious virus increased, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned Americans against traveling to China and activated an emergency management tool used to direct operations, deliver resources and share information.

Despite the alarm bells and increased intelligence briefings, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar struggled to get Trump’s attention for weeks. Continue reading. Continue reading.