Question

Paper: Write me a two page paper critiquing the government’s handling of the Caronavirus outbreak. Make sure to use and cite at least three sources. You may use any citation format that you like the best but you MUST use three sources. This is a Texas government class so you have the option for either focus on our Texas government’s response, your local government’s response, the federal government’s handling of the outbreak OR you can pick another country and focus on their handling of the outbreak in their country. Your paper can include your personal thoughts on how the government’s handling has impacted you.

Answer 1

The U.S. government has been criticized for various aspects of its response to the pandemic. Nonetheless, during the month of March 2020 when "social distancing" practices began, the governors of many states experienced "sharp" gains in approval ratings.[114] Trump—who gave a nationally televised address on 11 March and began giving daily press conferences on 16 March—saw his approval rating rise from 44% (in early March) to 49% (in mid-March)[115] and then slide back to 43% (in early April)

PreparednessEdit

Centers for Disease ControlEdit

CDC Director Robert R. Redfield speaks on the coronavirus outbreak in January 2020

The CDC has been criticized for a number of issues and failures in its approach to the novel coronavirus outbreaks. Among the issues include: a large number of faulty coronavirus test kits sent out to localities throughout the United States, a "woefully" low number of tests being done (3,600 as opposed to over 65,000 in South Korea, a country with a much smaller population), contamination of the lab dealing with the new coronavirus,[117] and removal of the running tally of the number of people tested from its website, which led to allegations of a cover-up.[118]

The CDC was also surrounded in controversy after a suspected patient who was refused a SARS-CoV-2 test by the CDC was later found to be harboring the virus.[119] Timothy Stenzel, the director of the Office of in Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, called what he saw during his tour of CDC facilities "alarming".[117] The HHS has launched an investigation into delays and the relatively slow response of the United States in contrast to countries in Asia.[120] Its handling of the evacuees from Wuhan and the British cruise ship Diamond Princess was also criticized when one of the evacuees, who was released by the CDC and intermingled with the public, later turned out to be positive and infected.[121]

In response, the Trump administration announced that it would launch an investigation into the shortcomings of the CDC. It has also ordered that the manufacture of test kits be moved away from the CDC.[122]

Trump administrationEdit

On 6 January 2017 (two weeks before Trump's inauguration), a 103-page Pentagon report reviewed past coronavirus outbreaks and warned that the next pandemic would likely be a new respiratory illness, predicting ventilator and personal protective equipment shortages. During the novel coronavirus outbreak the document was leaked to The Nation, which published it on 1 April 2020.[123] The reporter said it was "inconceivable that the White House did not receive this."[124]

In May 2018, Trump's then-national security advisor John Bolton disbanded a National Security Council global health security team set up to coordinate and lead responses to future pandemics.[125] It was called the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense.[126] Its leader, Rear Adm. Timothy Ziemer, departed shortly thereafter.[127] The office had been created by the Obama administration following the 2014 ebola epidemic. While no alternative team was set up, some of the team members were reassigned to roles that included pandemic response.[128]

On 6 March 2020, a reporter questioned Trump on his choice to close the office. Trump replied that there had been no reason to prepare for a pandemic because "you can never really think is going to happen...who would have thought we would even be having the subject?"[129] On 13 March, PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor asked Trump what "responsibility" he took for Bolton's closure of the pandemic preparation office. Trump denied knowledge even of the office's existence. He told the journalist she'd asked "a nasty question...I mean, you say we did that. I don't know anything about it...it's the administration, perhaps they do that. You know, people let people go...things like that happen."[130] On 1 April, Fox News journalist John Roberts asked about the office's closure, and Trump said, “We didn’t do that," claiming that it was "a false story."[131]

Jeremy Konyndyk, the former Director of USAID’s Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, said that all COVID-19-related medical equipment shortages trace back to the closure of the pandemic preparation office. Interviewed by CNN's Drew Griffin in March 2020, Konyndyk said of the closure, "I think it made us slower and it made us more prone to mistakes."[132]

The Trump administration was criticized for its proposed cuts to overall health funding in 2018. Cuts to CDC slashed 80% of its global disease outbreak program,[133][134] forcing the four-year-old program to reduce operations from 49 countries to 10. In its fiscal 2020 budget, the Trump administration proposed eliminating funding for epidemiology and laboratory capacity at state and local levels.[135][136][133] A $30 million Complex Crises Fund had also been cut entirely, which would have allowed the State Department to fund deployment of disease experts in the event of outbreaks.[137]

While the CDC has announced plans to screen people for the coronavirus, only three of the 100 public health labs were reported to be fitted for that role even after delays, which has been attributed to the agency's funding cuts.[138] Trump has been further criticized for proposing further cuts to the CDC and Health Department budgets, of the amounts of 16% and 10%, respectively, in budget requests submitted to Congress on 10 February. The proposed budget also called for a $65 million cut to the US' contribution to funding for the WHO.[139]

Public communicationEdit

Reporting by ProPublica and NPR said that Senator Richard Burr warned well-connected constituents of the socio-economic ramifications of the coronavirus and had sold up to $1.7 million of stocks while making public statements of reassurances of the government’s level of coronavirus preparedness.[140][141][142] Burr and his spokesperson would in turn criticize the reports, with Burr calling the NPR report “a tabloid style hit piece.” [140]

In response to the criticisms of the administration's handling of the crisis, Mick Mulvaney, the White House's acting Chief of Staff accused the US media of being overly-critical and of "stoking virus fears" in hopes that "this is going to bring down the president."[143] On 28 February, Trump said that the Democrats were promoting a "new hoax" to harm him politically and that the press was in "hysteria mode", while attempting to link the outbreak to Democratic immigration policies.[144][145]

An article in The Washington Post said that after Vice-President Mike Pence was appointed by President Trump to head the country's coronavirus response, attention was directed at his record as then governor of Indiana in handling the worse HIV epidemic in the state which drew severe criticism from public health officials, academics researchers and both Democrats and Republicans.[146]

On 28 February, after Fauci warned that the virus "may be impossible to contain", The New York Times reported that the Trump administration banned him from speaking publicly without explicit approval from the White House.[147] Dr. Fauci immediately and explicitly denied the veracity of that report.[148]

A 14 March NBC story said that CDC officials wanted to recommend that anyone over 60 remain inside their homes whenever possible but was instructed not to say that by the Trump administration.[149]

On 15 March, New York Times opinion columnist David Leonhardt published a list of ways in which Trump had played down the pandemic minimized its likely impact.[150]

At the 3 April press briefing, Trump acknowledged recent CDC advice in favor of "non-medical cloth face covering," but he added, "I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.” He went on to say that this was because he didn't feel sick and because he was concerned about how he'd look while he was "sitting in the Oval Office behind that beautiful Resolute Desk...wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens...I don’t see it for myself."[151]

On 8 April, the Wall Street Journal editorial board said that Trump was using the daily press briefings to amplify his feuds and his television ratings rather than to deliver accurate information to the public. It suggested that Trump should step aside and allow Pence to control these briefings.[152] The next day, Trump insulted the newspaper on Twitter, to which Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume replied by affirming the WSJ's criticism.[153]

An outbreak aboard the Navy's USS Theodore Roosevelt led to the decision to isolate the aircraft carrier and its approximately 4,800 sailors, resulting in the infection of many on board. The ship's commanding officer, Capt. Brett Crozier, wrote to the Navy of the "ongoing and accelerating" outbreak: "Sailors do not need to die. If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors." [154] Adm. Mike Gilday, Chief of Naval Operations, said it would be impossible to completely evacuate the ship because people need to maintain its nuclear reactor. On 30 March, Adm. John Aquilino noted that none of the sailors were in "critical condition." As of 1 April, Thomas Modly, Acting Secretary of the Navy, noted that 93 sailors on the ship had tested positive, accounting for more than 10% of all positive tests in the U.S. military. That day, it was reported that the sailors would be allowed off the boat, to be quarantined in hotels in Guam.[155] Capt. Crozier, however, was relieved of his command of the ship; Navy leadership said they objected to the way in which he disseminated his memo.[156]

By the end of March, although there was no federal stay-at-home order (the federal government has no legal authority to order or enforce that),[157] 39 states had issued such orders.[158][159] One of the latecomers was Georgia, whose governor, Brian Kemp, claimed on 1 April that "we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours" that asymptomatic people could be contagious, adding that he'd been told that this information was "a game-changer.” This was hardly new information, however. Anthony Fauci had said at a task force briefing two months earlier that "we know for sure" that asymptomatic transmission was occurring, and this basic scientific knowledge had been the basis for all stay-at-home orders throughout the world.[160][161] Another latecomer was Florida, whose policy took effect on 3 April and specifically exempted religious services, allowing them to be held in houses of worship.[162] Fauci told CNN on 2 April that, while he could not say whether anyone has legal authority to order a nationwide shutdown, he believes that the medical situation requires the whole nation to shut down.[163] On 13 April, Trump tweeted an unsubstantiated claim that "open[ing] up the states" is properly "the decision of the President," not of the governors, and he promised a decision would be made "shortly."[164]

ResourcesEdit

Distribution of medical equipmentEdit

In early March 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services said that 3.5 billion respirator masks (such as N95s) would be needed nationwide. By early April, the National Strategic Stockpile had distributed 11.7 million N95 masks to U.S. states (one-third of 1 percent of the stated need). This nearly depleted the federal stockpile; the remaining 10 percent of the stockpile was intended to be kept for federal workers. The House Oversight and Reform Committee, which produced a report on the distribution of equipment,[165] criticized the Trump administration for having waited too long to invoke the Defense Production Act to produce more masks.[166]

On 30 March 2020, the governor of Illinois complained that the federal government had responded to his weeks-old request for 1.2 million N95 masks by sending 300,000 surgical masks (the wrong type of equipment).[167] Elon Musk purchased and donated BiPAP machines to New York City's hospital system, but these are not the most critically needed type of ventilator.[168]

The federal government had stockpiled extra ventilators, and these were maintained by a company called Vyaire, after which the contract was given to a company called Agiliti. Due to a dispute over this contract change, no one maintained the ventilators between August 2019 and January 2020, and 2,109 ventilators were subsequently discovered to be broken. The government still has 10,000 ventilators available for distribution. FEMA is responsible for distributing this limited supply; a FEMA official told state governments that they should not expect to receive any unless they had patients at imminent risk of death without the equipment. As of 1 April, FEMA had distributed about 7,000 ventilators, about 4,000 of which went to New York, considered an area of highest concern, meeting about 15 percent of New York's expected need. Other states have had their requests denied. "Officials in Illinois say they asked for 4,000 and got 450. New Jersey sought 2,300 and got 300. New Mexico has only 370. Virginia requested 350 ventilators but has not received any," a New York Times article reported. California reported that "170 of its ventilators arrived broken."[169] On 2 April, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said he did not expect that the federal government would deliver his order of 1,000 ventilators on time.[170]

When the federal government distributes healthcare products, it typically distributes them to the private sector, and states must pay commercial prices. Distributors earn the price markup, even though the products were originally purchased with tax dollars. Rear Adm. John Polowczyk, Vice Director of Logistics of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed this at 2 April 2020 White House briefing (in response to a question by CBS reporter Weijia Jiang).[171] On 31 March, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo complained that the distribution of ventilators should have been centralized by FEMA. “Buy everything, and then allocate it by need to the states,” he suggested. He alleged that FEMA was instead bidding up the price of ventilators so that states could not compete in the marketplace.[172] Arthur Caplan, director of the division of medical ethics at NYU School of Medicine, remarked: "It’s putting people into the free market where the invisible hand doesn’t care who it strangles."[173]

In March 2020, Massachusetts arranged for the purchase of over 3 million N95 masks, but the federal government confiscated them at the Port of New York and New Jersey.[174] Gov. Charlie Baker then found people who could make a large purchase from Chinese manufacturers, and the New England Patriots airplane flew to China. The plane was deployed by the Kraft family, who also donated $2 million toward the purchase of the masks. The plane delivered 1 million masks (the first of two shipments) on 2 April. From these two shipments, Baker designated 100,000 masks for the neighboring state of Rhode Island, while Robert Kraft designated 300,000 masks (which he had personally purchased) for the State of New York.[170]

On 2 April 2020, the White House announced it would invoke the Defense Production Act to compel private firms to manufacture equipment. One order directed General Electric Co., Hill-Rom Holdings Inc., Medtronic Public Limited Co., ResMed Inc., Royal Philips N.V., and Vyaire Medical Inc. to produce ventilators, and another order directed 3M to produce N95 masks.[175] (3M had already been producing and exporting masks to Latin America and Canada.)[176] The companies will have to fulfill the federal government's orders before they can sell the same products to local governments, hospitals, or other countries. 3M said that this could prompt an international trade war, causing a net loss of equipment for the US.[173]

It has been suggested that Trump may show preference to Republican strongholds where he has hope for electoral votes in 2020. On 31 March, the Washington Post noted that "states including Oklahoma and Kentucky have received more of some equipment than they requested, while others such as Illinois, Massachusetts and Maine have secured only a fraction of their requests." In particular, "Florida has promptly received 100 percent of its first two requests — with President Trump and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis both touting their close relationship." The article pointed out that Trump had recently warned that states should buy their own supplies; that they should not rely on the federal government for this; that state officials should demonstrate how "appreciative" they are; and that he might shun state officials who criticize the government (specifically, those who criticize "Mike Pence," the task force," "FEMA," and "the Army Corps of Engineers.")[172] As a counterexample, however, Vermont, Tennessee, and Texas received equal shipments of N95 masks in April (120,900 masks for each of the three states) despite Vermont being a Democratic stronghold that was relatively oversupplied by this shipment given that its population is only 9 percent of Tennessee's and 2 percent of Texas's.[166]

Availability of testsEdit

On 1 April 2020, Dr. Rishi Desai, an infectious disease specialist at Osmosis, complained on Fox News that the FDA had only just approved a rapid test. Since the WHO had warned about the pandemic three months earlier, he said, someone “should have been working on it for months.” He also shared his opinion that South Korea's response and results had been far more successful than that of the US.[177]

Recovery measuresEdit

See also: Healthcare reform debate in the United States

Given the high numbers of jobless claims in March 2020,[178] states with their own healthcare marketplaces declared a "special enrollment" period to allow anyone to enroll without having to provide documentation that they recently lost their existing coverage. (Twelve states plus the District of Columbia have their own marketplaces; all except Idaho declared "special enrollment.") In the other 38 states that use the federal platform or Healthcare.gov, people who wish to enroll outside of the usual enrollment period remain subject to the existing documentation requirement. The federal government sometimes waives this documentation requirement after natural disasters, and was considering doing so during the coronavirus outbreak. The idea had bipartisan support from members of Congress and state governors as well as from medical groups such as the American Diabetes Association.[179] Nonetheless, the Trump administration decided at the end of March that it would not open "special enrollment