Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Based On Trump's Past Responses To Pandemics, Experts Worry About A Harmful Overreaction From President
Stat: Trump Is Facing His Biggest Outbreak Emergency — And Experts Are Worried
When Ebola was spreading in West Africa in 2014, Donald Trump took to Twitter. “STOP THE FLIGHTS!,” he blasted in all capital letters. “NO VISAS FROM EBOLA STRICKEN COUNTRIES.” He even cast doubt on the honesty of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tweeting: “Ebola is much easier to transmit than the CDC and government representatives are admitting. Spreading all over Africa — and fast.” (Fox, 1/28)
The Hill: Trump: Administration Communicating With China, 'Strongly On Watch' Over Coronavirus
As the number of cases of the pneumonia-like coronavirus from China continue to grow across the globe, President Trump on Monday tweeted that the U.S. is “in very close communication with China concerning the virus.” “Very few cases reported in USA, but strongly on watch,” he wrote. “We have offered China and President Xi any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!” (Weixel, 1/27)
The Hill: Biden: Trump Has Left US Unprepared To Respond To Epidemic
Former Vice President Joe Biden wrote Monday that President Trump is the “worst possible person” to deal with the outbreak of coronavirus. Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate, wrote an op-ed in USA Today calling out Trump for moves he said have weakened global health security and touting his own response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014. (Sullivan, 1/27)
The Associated Press: As US Rescues Some From Virus In China, Others Left Behind
As hundreds of Americans prepare to evacuate Wuhan, the central Chinese city at the heart of a new virus outbreak that has killed over 100, San Francisco native Doug Perez is staying behind. It’s not that he’s unconcerned. Perez, 28, and his girlfriend have hunkered down in their apartment for the past five days. They’ve argued. They’ve fretted over missed food deliveries. They’ve dubbed their Labrador, Chubby, “Apocalypse Dog,” venturing out for short walks on deserted streets only after fitting him with a mask. (Kang, 1/28)
The Hill: CDC: 110 People In 26 States Being Monitored For Possible Coronavirus
U.S. health officials on Monday said they are monitoring 110 people across 26 states who might have the coronavirus, but said that there were no new cases confirmed overnight and said the risk in the U.S. remains low. There have been five confirmed cases of the virus in the country. (Weixel, 1/27)
The New York Times: New York Braces For Coronavirus: ‘It’s Inevitable’
With isolated cases of the dangerous new coronavirus cropping up in a number of states, public health officials say it is only a matter of time before the virus appears in New York City. As a result, hospitals have been on the lookout for patients with recent travel involving Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus is believed to have originated. And they have urged anyone who recently traveled there — or who have been in contact with someone who has — to quickly seek medical care if they have any respiratory or flulike symptoms. (Goldstein and Singer, 1/27)
NPR: Coronavirus Preparation And Prevention In U.S. Draws From Other Recent Outbreaks
When the first U.S. case of a new coronavirus spreading throughout China was confirmed last week in Washington state, public health workers were well prepared to respond, building on lessons learned during the outbreak of measles that sickened 87 people in the state in 2019. As of Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had confirmed five cases of infection from the new coronavirus in the U.S., including two in California, one in Illinois and one in Arizona. (Stone, 1/28)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Prompts CDC To Expand Travel Warning To All Of China; Top U.S. Health Official Urges Beijing To Admit Disease Experts
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised its travel warning Monday to a level 3, its highest alert level, urging U.S. citizens to avoid all nonessential travel to China. (Shih, Denyer, Taylor and Thebault, 1/27)
The Hill: CDC, State Department Warn Against Any Travel To China
Anyone who must travel should talk with a health-care provider first, the CDC said, especially older adults and travelers with underlying health issues who may be at risk for more severe effects of the disease. (Weixel, 1/27)
Politico: CDC: 110 People In U.S. Under Investigation For Wuhan Coronavirus
Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters on a call that officials are expected to soon announce travel recommendations amid the growing outbreak. As of Sunday, there are more than 2,000 confirmed cases worldwide — the majority in China — and 56 have been confirmed deaths. The CDC is advising against nonessential travel to Wuhan, and it recommends people traveling more broadly throughout China take enhanced precautions. (Ehley, 1/27)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: More Than 100 Cases Of Suspected Coronavirus Under CDC Investigation
The CDC warning says those who travel should avoid all contact with sick people, animal markets and products that come from animals. ... “We understand people may worry about the new coronavirus,” said Dr. Robert Redfield on Monday. “In today’s connected world, an outbreak anywhere can be a risk everywhere. Risk is dependent on exposure.” (Darnell, 1/27)
Stat: The Coronavirus Questions That Scientists Are Racing To Answer
When are people contagious? One of the luckiest breaks the world got with the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003 was that people weren’t contagious until they developed symptoms. The same is true of MERS. As a result, it became easier for health officials to try to limit spread once they identified a new case. Public health experts watching this outbreak unfold have been hoping 2019-nCoV, which is a member of the same virus family, would follow that pattern. Now they’re not so sure. (Branswell and Joseph, 1/28)
The Wall Street Journal: What To Know About The New Chinese Coronavirus
Very little is still known about this virus, which for the moment carries the scientific name 2019-nCoV, meaning “novel coronavirus.” Scientists are racing to learn more. Key questions to answer are how long the incubation period is, how long someone is infectious, and whether or not people can be asymptomatic and spread the virus, says Ian Lipkin, director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. (McKay, 1/27)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Drugmakers Ship Therapies To China, Seeking To Treat Coronavirus
U.S. drugmakers are shipping antiviral drugs to Chinese health authorities to assess whether the medicines could help contain the explosion of respiratory virus infections sweeping the country. AbbVie Inc. and Johnson & Johnson are among the drugmakers that have begun shipping drugs approved to treat HIV, while Gilead Sciences Inc. is exploring whether it should send an antiviral therapy it is developing. (Hopkins, 1/27)
The Hill: Surgical Masks Selling Out Across US Amid Fears Over Coronavirus
Surgical-style masks at U.S. pharmacies have reportedly begun selling out in multiple U.S. cities amid fears of the new form of coronavirus. The BBC reported Monday that stores have been selling out of the masks in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, with stockpiling and runs on stores reported in New York and Los Angeles. (Bowden, 1/27)
Bloomberg: US Coronavirus Update: No New Cases, 5 Sick, 110 Under Monitoring
Officials have been on close watch for cases of so-called secondary transmission, in which original patients who came from China could infect others in the community. Anxiety is growing amid evidence that the disease has an incubation period of as long as two weeks before those infected start to show symptoms. That raises the possibility that people could travel and eventually infect others before realizing they have the illness. But Messonnier said that so far there has been no clear evidence that the virus can spread during the incubation period before patients have symptoms. (Langreth, 1/27)
