Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Former Covid Coordinator Birx Says Trump Adviser Downplayed Pandemic
Politico: Birx: Trump Adviser Squeezed Out Health Officials To Downplay Seriousness Of Covid-19
As Covid-19 surged last winter, the Trump White House was torn between competing factions on how to manage the pandemic, including whether to let the virus spread unchecked to reach herd immunity, former coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx told congressional investigators. Birx and other doctors pressed the Trump administration to intensify efforts to control disease spread, according to portions of testimony released Tuesday by the Coronavirus Crisis Select Subcommittee. But then-President Donald Trump’s hand-picked coronavirus adviser, Scott Atlas, had rapidly consolidated power on a platform that downplayed the seriousness of Covid to most Americans, squeezing out Birx and other top government health officials. (Cancryn, 10/26)
The Washington Post: Birx Tells Congress That Election ‘Distracted’ Trump Team From Pandemic Response, More Than 130,000 Died Unnecessarily
The Trump administration was “distracted” by last year’s election and ignored recommendations to curb the pandemic, the White House’s former coronavirus response coordinator told congressional investigators this month. “I felt like the White House had gotten somewhat complacent through the campaign season,” said Deborah Birx, whom President Donald Trump chose to steer his government’s virus response, according to interview excerpts released by the House select subcommittee on the pandemic. (10/26)
Newsweek: Birx Estimates Trump Admin Could Have Prevented 30 To 40 Percent Of COVID Deaths
The Trump administration's former coronavirus advisor, Dr. Deborah Birx, estimated that 30 to 40 percent of the 738,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. could have been prevented had the White House taken necessary steps to curb the spread of the virus .In a closed-door testimony conducted by the House Select Coronavirus Subcommittee on October 12 and 13, Birx testified that more than 130,000 American lives could have been saved if the administration promoted mask-wearing and social distancing in the early days of the pandemic. (Fung, 10/26)
Fox News: Scott Atlas Defends COVID Work, Slams Deborah Birx Testimony As 'Orwellian Attempt To Rewrite History'
Former Trump COVID special advisor Dr. Scott Atlas slammed Dr. Deborah Birx for her reported testimony to congressional investigators as "an Orwellian attempt to rewrite history," defending his work on the Trump COVID-19 task force, and telling Fox News that history's "biggest failure of public health policy lies directly at the hands of" officials who recommended lockdowns during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. (Singman, 10/26)
