Analysis: This is how America's coronavirus response went wrong | KnottMatthew
"The federal government’s slow, incoherent, and all too often ineffective response to the pandemic will reinforce the already widespread view that the United States has lost its way."On January 30, Peter Navarro, Donald Trump's top trade adviser, wrote a memo warning that the coronavirus could create a pandemic. In late February, he wrote a second memo saying the virus could kill up to 2 million Americans..
Instead of using a test developed by the World Health Organisation, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention opted to develop its own test. This wasn't particularly unusual. It’s common for nations with strong scientific expertise to develop their own diagnostics. Top researchers at prestigious universities were also hindered in their efforts to roll out their own COVID-19 tests. On January 31 Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar declared the coronavirus a public health emergency. It was an important declaration but had unintended consequences.
By the middle of March, South Korea had conducted 290,000 coronavirus tests. At that time the US had only performed an estimated 60,000. The difference is even more damning when you take into account that the US population is seven times larger than South Korea's.Asked about the testing shortage at a congressional hearing in March, Dr Anthony Fauci, the federal government's top infectious disease expert, said: "It is a failing, let's admit it.
An official jumped into her car and hit the highway carrying a cheque for $US3.5 million . She and the ventilator supplier met in a McDonald’s carpark and he was able to bank the cheque with 20 minutes to spare. In order to meet the deadline, an official jumped into her car and hit the highway carrying a cheque for $US3.5 million . She and the supplier met in a McDonald’s carpark and he was able to bank the cheque with 20 minutes to spare.Republican and Democratic politicians, who agree on little else, believe the pandemic has exposed America's over-reliance on foreign manufacturers for essential medical supplies.
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