COVID-19 outbreak hits White House staff
Nation plans to address weaknesses identified in response to epidemic
Since two White House staff members tested positive for the novel coronavirus last week, officials who were potentially exposed have responded in a variety of ways, raising questions about the effectiveness of the administration’s handling of the outbreak.
On Saturday night, a spokeswoman for Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he would be working from home sometimes.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “will be teleworking for the next two weeks”, after “low-risk exposure” on Wednesday to a person at the White House who has the disease, The Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing a spokesman.
United States Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn, 60, is in self-quarantine for several weeks after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, an FDA spokesman told Reuters on Friday.
All three officials were scheduled to testify on Tuesday before a Senate committee looking at steps states and the federal government are taking to reopen businesses and schools, which have been shut in an attempt to control the spread of the highly contagious virus.
In a separate report, Reuters said Fauci has tested negative for COVID-19 and he will continue to be tested regularly.
On Friday, CNN reported that US Vice-President Mike Pence’s press secretary Katie Miller tested positive for COVID-19, one day after a member of the US Navy who serves as one of President Donald Trump’s personal valets also tested positive for the virus, raising concerns about Trump’s possible exposure to the virus and the possibility of it spreading within the White House.
China will further strengthen its public health emergency response system, as weaknesses have been seen in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, a health official said on Saturday.
Li Bin, deputy head of the National Health Commission, said at a news conference that the commission will emphasize disease prevention, combining Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine as well as routine practices to better prepare for actual emergencies.
To improve the emergency response system, Li said they will strive to raise the public’s awareness and form a unified and efficient leadership and command system.
The commission will also reform disease prevention and control procedures; improve the coordination of risk analysis, evaluation and decision-making; strengthen training and drills; and build a tiered treatment plan; he added.
Modern technology — including big data, artificial intelligence and cloud computing — will play a more important role in supporting disease monitoring and virus tracing, prevention and treatment, as well as resource allocation, Li said while emphasizing the significance of speeding up core technological breakthroughs.
He called for improvements in the medical insurance and aid system for major diseases, as well as related laws and regulations, and called for closer international exchanges and cooperation to make China more engaged in global health governance.
The news conference came ahead of the 2020 two sessions, China’s biggest political event of the year, which will begin on May 21, when thousands of deputies to the National People’s Congress, the legislative body, and members of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body, will gather in Beijing for political discussions.
During the prevention and control work of COVID-19 earlier this year, national legislators and political advisers made more than 400 proposals and motions. Li said the commission highly valued these opinions and has translated many of them into concrete policies and measures.
Last year, the State Council handled 7,162 proposals and 3,281 motions made by national legislators and political advisers in the 2019 two sessions, State Council Information Office spokeswoman Xi Yanchun said at the news conference.
The ministries of the State Council adopted more than 3,000 suggestions, accordingly issued over 1,500 related policies, made public 6,200 replies to the proposals and motions and released more than 250 policy interpretation documents, she added.
She said all ministries have handled the proposals in a “responsible and practical way” and achieved good results, benefiting the progress of the country’s poverty alleviation work, innovation and many other reforms.