The Great Swedish Experiment

Americans calling for herd immunity should look at Sweden's coronavirus experiment to see why it won't work

Kelly McLaughlin

5 hours ago

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People at restaurant in Stockholm on May 8. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

• Some Americans are pushing herd immunity as a way to reopen the economy in the US. 
• The concept of herd immunity is to stop the transmission of a virus through mass infection — the more people who have antibodies, the quicker mass immunity to the virus will be reached.
• But it remains unknown if there's long-term immunity to COVID-19, and reaching herd immunity could lead to more deaths.
• Health officials have called herd immunity dangerous and something that could take years to reach without a vaccine. 
• Sweden's approach to the novel coronavirus seems to rely on herd immunity, and it has kept businesses open throughout the pandemic. 
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As Americans agitate for the reopening the economy in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, some of them are looking at one strategy to make it feasible: herd immunity.

You don't need to look further than Sweden's anti-lockdown experiment to see why that wouldn't work.

Sweden has taken a controversially relaxed approach to COVID-19. It has not initiated a nationwide lockdown to flatten the curve. Instead, Sweden seems to be pinning its hopes on herd immunity to stop the transmission of the virus through mass infection.

The idea is if more people are infected and obtain antibodies, people will eventually gain immunity to the virus. The country has kept restaurants, schools, and gyms open and urged its residents to social distance and wash their hands.

In the US, the Trump administration has refused to set nationwide distancing rules, leading to scattershot lockdown and reopening efforts.

States across the US issued stay-at-home orders in March, and several governors are starting to reopen businesses — which if done too early, could put residents at risk of COVID-19 surges. Some people calling for economic reopenings, as well as anti-vaccine advocates, have pushed for herd immunity as a way out.

But scientists have called it dangerous rhetoric, saying that in the years people would have to wait for herd immunity to be achieved, hundreds of thousands of people could die from COVID-19. And beyond that, it remains unknown if antibodies from COVID-19 even result in long-term immunity.

No country in the world has reached herd immunity to COVID-19

Data suggests that no place has reached herd immunity to the coronavirus — less than 10% of the world has been exposed to the virus, according to estimates.

Experts say herd immunity requires 50 to 70% of the population to be exposed to the virus. Business Insider's Hilary Brueck reported that without a vaccine, it could take four to five years to reach that point.

Jason Redmond/AFP

In those four or five years, hundreds of thousands of more people could die from COVID-19. And scientists are still uncertain if a COVID-19 infection even leads to immunity.

As of Friday morning, Sweden, which has a population of 10.23 million, had 29,207 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3,646 deaths from the virus — a death rate of 35.64 deaths per 100,000 people.

The US, meanwhile, has had 1.45 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 86,607 deaths from the virus. With a population of 328.2 million, the country has a death rate of 26.3 deaths per 100,000 people.

Health officials have called the concept of herd immunity 'dangerous'

Epidemiologists at Johns Hopkins University have called the concept herd immunity a "dangerous misconception" and said the US remains vulnerable to the virus. The World Health Organization also criticized the idea of herd immunity on Monday.

"This idea that, 'Well, maybe countries who had lax measures and haven't done anything will all of a sudden magically reach some herd immunity, and so what if we lose a few old people along the way?' This is a really dangerous, dangerous calculation," Mike Ryan, WHO's executive director of health emergencies, said.

People in Stockholm on April 8. AP Photo/Andres Kudacki

Ryan told reporters that humans "are not herds," and such plans around building immunity would lead to only more death.

"I think we need to be really careful when we use terms in this way around natural infections in humans because it can lead to a very brutal arithmetic which does not put people and life and suffering at the center of that equation," he said.

The creator of Sweden's coronavirus plan even said he isn't convinced it's working

The architect behind Sweden's coronavirus plan even said he wasn't sure if the relaxed approach is working.

"I'm not convinced at all," Anders Tegnell, Sweden's state epidemiologist, told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet on May 1.

On Tuesday, Sweden even changed one aspect of its COVID-19 strategy, after seeing a high death rate in Swedish nursing homes. Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's office announced it would spend about $220 million (2.2 billion kronor) to help protect elderly people in nursing homes from the novel coronavirus.

People in Stockholm on April 21. Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images

Sweden and the US are among the 10 countries with the highest numbers of deaths per capita from COVID-19, according to data from Statista. Based on the data, Canada has nearly half the death rate of the US, at 15.1 deaths per 100,000 people.

Sweden is more densely populated than other Nordic countries, but its neighbors' death rates per capita are much lower — Norway has a rate of 4.32 deaths per 100,000 people, and Finland has a rate of 5.2.

Other nations, including Spain and Italy, have higher death rates per capita than the US and Sweden. Both countries have older populations, which affects the death rate, along with other factors, such as testing availability.

Emily Toth Martin, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health told Business Insider reporter Anna Medaris Miller that the only way to gain herd immunity from the virus is through a vaccine.

"This is not just about getting through the current crisis," she added. "If this virus stays around, we need a vaccine to prevent resurgences in future generations."

Above is from:  https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-call-herd-immunity-sweden-experiment-coronavirus-not-working-2020-5

The Lancent: “Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.”

EDITORIAL| VOLUME 395, ISSUE 10236, P1521, MAY 16, 2020

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Reviving the US CDC

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Published:May 16, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31140-5

PlumX Metrics

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to worsen in the USA with 1·3 million cases and an estimated death toll of 80 684 as of May 12. States that were initially the hardest hit, such as New York and New Jersey, have decelerated the rate of infections and deaths after the implementation of 2 months of lockdown. However, the emergence of new outbreaks in Minnesota, where the stay-at-home order is set to lift in mid-May, and Iowa, which did not enact any restrictions on movement or commerce, has prompted pointed new questions about the inconsistent and incoherent national response to the COVID-19 crisis.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the flagship agency for the nation's public health, has seen its role minimised and become an ineffective and nominal adviser in the response to contain the spread of the virus. The strained relationship between the CDC and the federal government was further laid bare when, according to The Washington Post, Deborah Birx, the head of the US COVID-19 Task Force and a former director of the CDC's Global HIV/AIDS Division, cast doubt on the CDC's COVID-19 mortality and case data by reportedly saying: “There is nothing from the CDC that I can trust”. This is an unhelpful statement, but also a shocking indictment of an agency that was once regarded as the gold standard for global disease detection and control. How did an agency that was the first point of contact for many national health authorities facing a public health threat become so ill-prepared to protect the public's health?

In the decades following its founding in 1946, the CDC became a national pillar of public health and globally respected. It trained cadres of applied epidemiologists to be deployed in the USA and abroad. CDC scientists have helped to discover new viruses and develop accurate tests for them. CDC support was instrumental in helping WHO to eradicate smallpox. However, funding to the CDC for a long time has been subject to conservative politics that have increasingly eroded the agency's ability to mount effective, evidence-based public health responses. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration resisted providing the sufficient budget that the CDC needed to fight the HIV/AIDS crisis. The George W Bush administration put restrictions on global and domestic HIV prevention and reproductive health programming.

The Trump administration further chipped away at the CDC's capacity to combat infectious diseases. CDC staff in China were cut back with the last remaining CDC officer recalled home from the China CDC in July, 2019, leaving an intelligence vacuum when COVID-19 began to emerge. In a press conference on Feb 25, Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned US citizens to prepare for major disruptions to movement and everyday life. Messonnier subsequently no longer appeared at White House briefings on COVID-19. More recently, the Trump administration has questioned guidelines that the CDC has provided. These actions have undermined the CDC's leadership and its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is no doubt that the CDC has made mistakes, especially on testing in the early stages of the pandemic. The agency was so convinced that it had contained the virus that it retained control of all diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, but this was followed by the admission on Feb 12 that the CDC had developed faulty test kits. The USA is still nowhere near able to provide the basic surveillance or laboratory testing infrastructure needed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

But punishing the agency by marginalising and hobbling it is not the solution. The Administration is obsessed with magic bullets—vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear. But only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like test, trace, and isolate, will see the emergency brought to an end, and this requires an effective national public health agency. The CDC needs a director who can provide leadership without the threat of being silenced and who has the technical capacity to lead today's complicated effort.

The Trump administration's further erosion of the CDC will harm global cooperation in science and public health, as it is trying to do by defunding WHO. A strong CDC is needed to respond to public health threats, both domestic and international, and to help prevent the next inevitable pandemic. Americans must put a president in the White House come January, 2021, who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics.

Above is from:  https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31140-5/fulltext

May 15: 90,369 COVID-19 cases in Illinois

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. JB Pritzker has ordered Illinois residents to stay at home. Executive Order No. 10 requires all residents to stay home, with exceptions for essential needs or business activities. Gatherings of 10 people or more are prohibited. The order extends through May 30, 2020.

COVID-19

Positive (Confirmed)

90,369   +2432

Deaths

4,058  +130

Total Tests Performed*

538,602  +26,565

Total Cases

(90,369 5-15-2020) (87,937  5-14-2020) (84,698  5-13-2020) (83,021  5-12-2020)(79,007  5-11-2020) (77,741 5-10-2020)  (76,085  5-9-2020)(73,760  5-8-2020)(70,873 5-7-2020)(68,232  5-6-2020) (65,962  5-5-2020)  (63,840  5-4-2020) (61,499 5-3-2020) (58,505  5-2-2020)  56,055 5-1-2020) (52,918  4-30-2020) (50,355  4-29-3030) (48,102 4-28-2020) (45,883  4-27-2020) (43,903  4-26-2020) ( 41,777  4-25-2020) (39,658  4-24-2020)  (36,934 ^4-23-2020)  (35,108 4-22-2020)(33,059  4-21-2020) (31,508  4-20-2020) (30,357 4-19-2020)  (29,160  4-18-2020)  (27,575  4-17-2020) (25,733  4-16-2020)  (24,593 4-15-2020)  (23,247 4-14-2020)  (22,025 4-13-2020)  (20,852 4-12-2020) (19,180 4-11-2020 ) (17,887 4-10-2020) (16,422 4-9-2020) (15,078 4-8-2020) (13,549 4-7-2020) (12,262 4-6-2020) (11,256 4-5-2020) (10,357 4/4/2020) (8,904-- 4/3/2020) (7,695-- 4/2/2020)   (6,980-- 4/1/2020) (5,994-- 3/31/2020)  (5,05--7 3/30/2020) (4,596-- 3/29/2020)

Deaths

(4,058  5-15-2020) (3,928  5-14-2020) (3,792 5-13-2020) (3,601 5-12-2020)  (3,459  5-11-2020) (3,406 5-10-2020) (3349 5-9-2020) (3,241 5-8-2020) (3,111  5-7-2020)(2,974  5-6-2020) ((2,838 5-5-2020)  (2662 5-4-2020) (2,618 5-3-2020) (2,559 5-2-2020) (2,457 5-1-2020) (2,355  4-30-2020) (2,215  4-29-2020)  (2,125  4-28-2020) (1,983  4-27-2020) (1,933 4-26-2020 )(1,874  4-25-2020) 1,795  4-22-2020) (1,688  2-23-2020) (1,585 4-22-2020) (1,468  4-21-2020) (1,349 4-20-2020)(1,290 4-18-2020)  (1,259  4-18-2020) (1,134  4-17-2020) (1,072  4-16-2020) (948 4-15-2020)  (866 4-14-2020) (794 4-13-2020)  (720 4-12-2020) (677 4-11-2020)(596 4-10-2020) (528 4-9-2020) (462 4-8-2020) (380 4-7-2020)(307 4-6-2020) (274 4-5-2020) (243—4-4-2020) (210-- 4-3-2020) (157 4-2-2020)(141 4/1/2020) (99 3/31/2020) (73 3/30/2020)  (65 3/29/2020)

Total Persons Tested*

(538,602 5-15-2020) (512,037  5-14-2020)  (489,359  5-13-2020)(471,691 5-12-2020) (442,425  5-11-2020) (429,984  5-10-2020) (416,331 5-9-2020)  (399,714 5-8-2020)  (379,033 5-7-2020)(361,260 5-6-2020) (346,286 5-5-20200 (333,147  5-4-2020) (319,313  5-3-2020) (299,892 5-2-2020)  (284,688  5-1-2020) (269,867 4-30-2020) (256,667  4-29-2020) (242,189  4-28-2020) (227,628  4-27-2020) (214,952 4-26-2020) (201,617 4-25-2020) (186,219  4-24-2020)(173,316 4-23-2020) (164,346 4-22-2020)  (154,997  4-21-2020) (148,358 4-20-2020) (143,318 4-19-2020)  (137,404  4-18-2020) (130,163  4-17-2020)  (122,589  4-16-2020)  (116,929 4-15-2020) (110,616 4-14-2020)  (105,768 4-13-2020) (100,735 4-12-2020) (92,779 4-11-2020) (87,527 4-10-2020) (86,857 4-9-2020) (75,066 4-8-2020) (68,732 4-7-2020) (62,942 4-6-2020) (58,983 4-5-2020) (53,581—4-4-2020)  (48,048-- 4-3-2020) (43,653-- 4/2/2020) (40,384-- 4/1/2020) (35,225-- 3-31-2020) (30,446-- 3/30/2020)  (27,762-- 3/29/2020)

_{*Total number of people reported electronically for testing of COVID-19 at IDPH, commercial or hospital laboratories. Deaths are included in the number of positive cases
All numbers displayed are provisional and subject to change.}

Information to be updated daily.

Above is from: http://www.dph.illinois.gov/covid19/covid19-statistics

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PROJECTIONS from:  http://www.healthdata.org/research-article/forecasting-covid-19-impact-hospital-bed-days-icu-days-ventilator-days-and-deaths Now being updated three times per week.

Total COVID-19 deaths projected through August 4, 2020 in Illinois (7,830 5-12-2020) (7395 5-10-2020)(6,353 5-4-2020)  (2,337  4-29-2020)   (2,316 4-27-2020)  (2093 4-21-2020) (2,259 4-15-2020) (1248 4-13-2020)

(777 4-10-2020)  (1,584  4-8-2020) (3,629 4-5-2020)(3,386 4-2-2020) (2,789 4-1-2020)  (2,326  3-31-2020)  (2,369 as of 3/30/2020)  (2,454 AS OF 3-26-2020)

COVID-19 deaths   Peak deaths  (95 deaths on 4-19-2020)               Previously (91 deaths on 4-12-2020)  (208 on 4-12-2020) (109 on 4-20-2020)

Illinois Population:  12.74 million        Projected deaths per million: 498.67

For a lengthier discussion of the projection model go to:  http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2020/03/forecasting-covid-19-impact-on-hospital.html and http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2020/05/why-imhs-corvid-19-model-is-so-wrong.html

BOONE COUNTY

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This page summarizes the latest data for COVID-19 in McHenry County. This data is provisional and subject to change.

McHenry County Cases

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1,130

Source: McHenry County Department of Health

McHenry County Deaths

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61

Source: McHenry County Department of Health

cHenry County Cases

Above is from:  https://mchenry-county-coronavirus-response-mchenrycountygis.hub.arcgis.com/

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WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Ill. (WIFR) -- Winnebago County sees 124 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, bringing the county total to 1,303 cases.

The Winnebago County Health Department says there are no new deaths stemming from the virus, total still standing at 39.

City leaders are fighting both a an economic crisis and a public health outbreak.

"You can not divorce and two nor ignore one to get to the other as much as we all want to," said Winnebago County Chairperson Frank Haney.

Doctor Sandra Martell with the Winnebago County Health Department says the increase in cases didn't happen overnight.

'Fifty six percent of these were from the backlog of the test results from the community based triple t site at the University of Illinois Health Sciences campus," said Dr. Martell.

Above is from:  https://www.wifr.com/content/news/124-new-cases-of-COVID-19-in-Winnebago-County--total-cases-more-than-1300-570478911.html

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Cases in U.S.

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Updated  May 15, 2020

U.S. At A Glance

As of May 14, 2020

Total Cases^*

1,412,121   +  27,191

Total Deaths

85,990   +1,953

This page will be updated daily. Numbers close out at 4 p.m. the day before reporting

***On Saturday and Sunday, the numbers in COVID-19: U.S. at a Glance and the figure describing the cumulative total number of COVID-departments. CDC will update weekend numbers the following Monday to reflect health department updates.***

CDC is responding to an outbreak of respiratory illness caused by a novel (new) coronavirus. The outbreak first started in Wuhan, China, but cases have been identified in a growing number of other locations internationally, including the United States. In addition to CDC, many public health laboratories are now testing for the virus that causes COVID-19.

COVID-19: U.S. at a Glance*†

• Total cases (1,412,121  5-15-2020) (1,384,930  5-14-2020) (1,364,061 5-13-2020) (1,342,594  5-12-2020) (1,324,488  5-11-20200  (1,300,696  5-10-2020) (1,274,036  5-9-2020) (1,248,040 5-8-2020) (1,219,066  5-7-2020)(1,193,813  5-6-2020) (1,171,510 5-5-2020)  (1,152,372 5-4-2020 )(1,092,815 5-2-2020)   (1,062,446  5-1-2020)(1,031,659  4-30-2020)  (1,005,147  4-28-2020) (957,875  4-27-2020) (928,619  4-26-2020)  (895,766  4-25-2020)   (865,585 4-24-2020)   (829,441   4-23-2020) (802,583  4-22-2020) (776,093 4-21-2020) (746,625 4-20-2020) (720,630 4-19-2020)  (661,712 4-17-2020)  (632,548 4-16-2020)  (605,390 4-15-2020) (579,005 4-14-2020)  (554,849 4-13-2020) (525,704 4-12-2020)  (492,416 4-11-2020)(459,165 4-10-2020) (427,460 4-9-2020) (395,011 4-8-2020)(374,329 4-7-2020) (330,891 4-6-2020) (304,826 4-5-2020) (277,205 4-4-2020) (239,279 4-3-2020) (213,144 4/2/2020)(186,101 4/1/2020) (163,539 3/31/2020) (140,904 3/30/2020)   (122,653  3-29-2020)
• Total deaths (85,990  5-20-2020) (83,947 5-15-2020) (82,246  5-13-2020)  (80,820  5-12-2020) (79,756  5-11-2020) (78,771  5-10-2020) (77,034  5-9-2020) (75,477  5-8-2020) (73,297  5-7-2020) (70,802 5-6-2020)  (68,279 5-5-2020) (67,456  5-4-2020)  (64,283  5-2-2020)  (62,405 5-1-2020)  (60,057  4-30-2020) (57,505  4-28-2020)  (53,922 4-27-2020) (52,459  4-26-2020)  (50,439 4-25-2020) (48,816  4-24-2020) (46,379 4-23-2020) (44,575 4-22-2020)  (41,759 4-21-2020) (39,083 4-20-2020)  (37,202 4-19-2020)  (33,049 4-17-2020)  (31,071 4-16-2020) (24,582 4-15-2020) (22,252 4-14-2020) (21,942 4-13-2020)  (20,486 4-12-2020)  (18,559 4-11-2020) (16,570 4-10-2020) (14,696 4-9-2020) (12,754 4-8-2020) (12,064 4-7-2020) (8,910 4-6-2020)(7,616 4-5-2020)  (6, 593 4-4-2020) (5,443 4-3-2020) (4,513 4-2-2020) (3,603 4-1-2020) (2,860 3/31/2020) (2,405 3/30/2020)   (2,112  3-29-2020)
• Jurisdictions reporting cases: 55 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, and US Virgin Islands)

^* Data include both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 reported to CDC or tested at CDC since January 21, 2020, with the exception of testing results for persons repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China and Japan. State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.

† Numbers updated Saturday and Sunday are not confirmed by state and territorial health departments. These numbers will be modified when numbers are updated on Monday.(

Cases of COVID-19 Reported in the US, by Source of Exposure*†

^* Data include both confirmed and presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 reported to CDC or tested at CDC since January 21, 2020, with the exception of testing results for persons repatriated to the United States from Wuhan, China and Japan. State and local public health departments are now testing and publicly reporting their cases. In the event of a discrepancy between CDC cases and cases reported by state and local public health officials, data reported by states should be considered the most up to date.

† CDC is no longer reporting the number of persons under investigation (PUIs) that have been tested, as well as PUIs that have tested negative. Now that states are testing and reporting their own results, CDC’s numbers are not representative of all testing being done nationwide.

Above is from:  https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html

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Now being updated three times per week.

  For discussion go to: http://boonecountywatchdog.blogspot.com/2020/05/ihme-model-nearly-doubles-death.html

PROJECTIONS:   US COVID-19 Deaths thru 8-4-2020) (147,040 5-12-2020)  (137,184 5-10-2020) (134,475 5-4-2020)  (72,433   4-29-2020)  (74,073 4-27-2020) (65,976 4-21-2020)  (60,308 4-15-2020) (68,841 4-13-2020)  (61,543 4-10-2020) (60,415 4-8-2020) (81,766 4-5-2020) (93,531 4/3/2020) (93,765 4/1/2020)   (83.967 3/31/2020)    ( 82,141 3/30/2020);  Peak Daily    (2150 4-13-2020)

Older Peak Daily Deaths (2,212 on 4-12-2010)  (1,983 on 4-11-2020)  (2,644 on 4-16-2020)(3,130 on 4-16-2020) ( 2214 on 3/31/2020) (2,214 on 3/31/2 020) (2,271 3/30/2020)

US Population:  331 million    Projected deaths per million: 406.27

FROM:  http://www.healthdata.org/research-article/forecasting-covid-19-impact-hospital-bed-days-icu-days-ventilator-days-and-deaths Now being updated three times per week

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COVID-19 Tracker   Great site to find specific county, state, country numbers is at:  https://bing.com/covid?form=msntrk  Site supplies case numbers, recovered cases and deaths by country and US state.

World population: 7.8  BILLION

Total COVID 19 cases  4,531,811

Active cases

2,592,524

+48,864

Recovered cases

1,632,286

+48,357

Fatal cases

307,001

+5,064

 

McConnell apoligizes regarding pandemic playbook

McConnell says he was wrong on Obama pandemic playbook

Matthew Choi

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Politico•May 14, 2020

15,331 Comments

McConnell says he was wrong on Obama pandemic playbook

More

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday he was mistaken in claiming that the Obama administration had failed to leave a pandemic playbook for the Trump White House.

“I was wrong,” McConnell said in an evening interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier. “They did leave behind a plan. So, I clearly made a mistake in that regard.”

McConnell had claimed during a Monday campaign event for President Donald Trump that the current White House had not been briefed by the previous administration on preparing for a pandemic at the scale of the novel coronavirus. He also slammed former President Barack Obama for criticizing Trump’s coronavirus response (Obama had privately told former aides that it was an “absolute chaotic disaster”), saying Obama “should have kept his mouth shut.”

“We want to be early, ready for the next one, because clearly the Obama administration did not leave to this administration any kind of game plan for something like this,” McConnell said on Monday during a virtual interview with Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law and campaign adviser.

But POLITICO had reported in March the existence of a document, written by Obama officials that laid out how the incoming Trump administration should respond if faced with a pandemic. The 69-page document contained hundreds of recommendations for dealing with many of the problems plaguing the nation’s coronavirus response — from shortages of personal protective equipment to the need for unified public guidance on the crisis.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday afternoon, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that the “Obama-Biden plan that has been referenced was insufficient,“ and said the Trump administration had prepared its own pandemic report and exercises last year.

“In other words, the Obama-Biden paper packet was superseded by a President Trump-style pandemic preparedness response plan,“ McEnany said.

“Which was much better,“ Trump followed up. “We were given very little when we came into this administration.“

But Rick Bright, the vaccine expert who was recently ousted from the Department of Health and Human Services, painted a far less organized image of the Trump administration‘s pandemic preparedness.

Bright testified before Congress earlier Thursday that the Trump administration severely botched its coronavirus response and misled the public on its handling of the outbreak. Bright contends that he was quickly pushed out of his post because he objected to a political drive for a malaria medication as a coronavirus treatment. Bright crafted a 63-page whistleblower complaint on the administration’s handling of the outbreak, making him the first federal official to openly dispute Trump’s claims of a successful response.

During his Thursday evening interview on Fox News, McConnell demurred in commenting on how the Obama-era pandemic playbook factored in to the Trump administration’s response.

“As to whether or not the plan was followed and who is the critic and all the rest,” he said, “I don’t have any observation about that because I don’t know enough about the details of that, Bret, to comment on it in any detail.”

Above is from:  https://www.yahoo.com/news/mcconnell-says-wrong-obama-pandemic-015823870.html