Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Slow Trump Admin Response Blamed For Most Covid Deaths After First Wave
USA Today: Most COVID-19 Deaths After First 100,000 Were Avoidable
Former White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said most coronavirus deaths in the United States were avoidable, during a CNN interview for a documentary scheduled to air Sunday. In an excerpt from "Covid War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out," Birx said that while many deaths in the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic were likely inevitable, the lethality of later waves could have been greatly reduced if the U.S. had "mitigated earlier ... paused earlier and actually done" greater social distancing and shutdown measures. "I look at it this way," Birx told CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta. "The first time, we have an excuse. There were about 100,000 deaths that came from that original surge. All of the rest of them, in my mind, could have been mitigated or decreased substantially." (Brown, 3/28)
CNN: What The Covid-19 War Was Really Like In Trump's White House
No longer working under the Trump administration, six leading US health officials now reveal to CNN the real challenges they faced during the nation's fight against Covid-19 over the past year: death threats, mixed messages and in some cases, being kept from sharing information with national audiences. The nation's doctors -- Dr. Deborah Birx, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Brett Giroir, Dr. Stephen Hahn, Dr. Robert Kadlec and Dr. Robert Redfield -- were fighting a pandemic that would claim more than 500,000 American lives, all while navigating a White House fraught with strained relationships and very little mask-wearing. (Howard, 3/28)
CNN: Dr. Deborah Birx Recalls 'Very Difficult' Phone Call From Trump Following Her Covid-19 Warnings
Dr. Deborah Birx revealed in a CNN documentary clip released Sunday that she received a "very uncomfortable" and "very difficult" phone call from Donald Trump after speaking publicly about the spread of Covid-19 while serving in the former President's administration. Birx, who had served as the Trump White House's coronavirus response coordinator, said the phone call followed her appearance on CNN in August. (Howard and Kelly, 3/28)
Axios: Redfield Claims Azar Tried To Change COVID Report Data
Two senior members of former President Trump's White House coronavirus task force accused former Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar in a CNN Special Report, broadcast Sunday, of political interference. Former CDC chief Robert Redfield told CNN's Sanjay Gupta what he was "most offended by was the calls" from Azar's office "that wanted me to pressure and change the MMWR [Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on COVID-19]. He may deny that, but it's true." (Falconer, 3/29)
The Hill: Fauci Says He And Birx Had 'Bad Cop,' 'Good Cop' Roles On Trump Coronavirus Task Force
Top infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said in an interview that aired on Sunday he and former White House coronavirus coordinator Deborah Birx took on “bad cop” and “good cop” roles, respectively, within former President Trump’s COVID-19 task force. CNN’s Sanjay Gupta asked Fauci in a CNN Special Report whether he and Birx had “a strategy” to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, asking if one of them was the “good cop,” while the other was the “bad cop.” “I was the bad cop,” Fauci responded. “She was the good cop.” (Coleman, 3/28)
Axios: CNN Pandemic Doctors Special: Key Takeaways
Leading members of former President Trump's White House coronavirus task force opened up on the pressures of working in the administration in a CNN Special Report, broadcast Sunday. In CNN's "Covid War: The Pandemic Doctors Speak Out," Anthony Fauci recalled Trump tweeting "LIBERATE" blue states in order to push them to reopen "hit me like a punch to the chest," while Deborah Birx said "fault no.1" with the administration was it didn't "provide consistent messaging to the American people." (Falconer, 3/29)
Also on the U.S. pandemic response —
KHN: Analysis: How The US Invested In The War On Terrorism At The Cost Of Public Health
Here’s one big takeaway from our country’s disastrous 2020 covid response: For 20 years, we’ve lavished attention and money on fighting human terrorism and forgot that the terrorism of nature is equally deadly, deserving equal preparation. Today, with more than 545,000 U.S. covid deaths, I hope we’ve learned the huge cost of allowing our public health structure to wither as we single-mindedly pursued the decades-long war on terror. Slowly, with no one much paying attention, here’s how it happened. (Rosenthal, 3/29)
