The recent outbreak of novel coronavirus is one of the most alarming public health emergencies of the twenty-first century. Nancy Messonnier, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), called the situation “unprecedented” adding that the CDC is “preparing as if this is the next pandemic.” President Donald Trump responded to the outbreak by imposing a travel ban. And just last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notified Congress of its intent to transfer roughly $136 million to fund ongoing preparedness and response efforts.
But despite growing fears that the world is on the precipice of disaster, the United States Congress, and the Democratic House more specifically, has yet to clearly articulate how it intends to support ongoing planning efforts. Save a handful of statements either criticizing or supporting President Trump’s travel ban, the legislative branch has been uncharacteristically mum, a stark contrast to robust debate triggered by other public health emergencies, including the 2015-2016 Zika epidemic, the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, the 2009 H1N1 swine influenza pandemic, and the 2004-2006 H5N1 avian influenza outbreak. In fact, in response to the avian influenza outbreak Congress passed a number of fairly sweeping pieces of legislation in an attempt to bolster the nation’s public health system, including the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREPA) (PL 109-148) and Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) (PL 109- 417).
The time for preparedness is now and there is little reason to believe President Trump, who has unabashedly attacked the scientific community since the moment he took office, is up to the task. Public health officials have expressed concerns that the travel ban will strain diplomatic relations with China, in turn undermining their ability to work with Chinese officials to mitigate the spread of the virus. Travel bans and quarantines have also been shown to increase public distrust of government officials, further hindering domestic response efforts. Equally alarming, the Trump Administration has gutted the federal government’s public health infrastructure, drastically cutting the budgets of key public health agencies and eliminating the White House’s global health czar.
Congress has admittedly had a lot on its plate, however the legislative branch can ill afford to shirk its oversight responsibilities at such critical juncture in the outbreak. Congress needs to push back on the false assumption that travel bans and global restrictions will somehow protect U.S. citizens from the virus, which has already spread well beyond the borders of China. In addition to closely overseeing the Trump Administration’s management of the outbreak, Congress also needs to ensure state authorities are working closely with healthcare providers to establish plans and protocols for dealing with a potential surge in very sick patients.
Fortunately, it looks like Congress is finally starting to stir itself into action. A running record of all statements made on the floors of the House and Senate, Congressional Record entries are said to correlate with congressional attention: The greater the number of entries, the higher the level of policymaker concern. The number ofCongressional Record entries for the term “coronavirus” has tripled since Monday. Let’s hope this trend continues in the weeks and months ahead. Better yet, let’s hope a coronavirus pandemic never comes to fruition.