AP: Signs missed and steps slowed in Trump’s pandemic response
“…When Trump spoke in Switzerland [in January], weeks’ worth of warning signs already had been raised. In the ensuing month, before the president first addressed the crisis from the White House, key steps to prepare the nation for the coming pandemic were not taken. Life-saving medical equipment was not stockpiled. Travel largely continued unabated. Vital public health data from China was not provided or was deemed untrustworthy. A White House riven by rivalries and turnover was slow to act. Urgent warnings were ignored by a president consumed by his impeachment trial and intent on protecting a robust economy that he viewed as central to his reelection chances. Twenty current and former administration officials and Republicans close to the White House were interviewed for this account about the critical weeks lost before the president spoke to the nation on Feb. 26. Most spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions…” (Lemire et al., 4/12).

The Hill: Romney, Murphy introduce bill to name global health coordinator, council amid coronavirus pandemic
“A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation on Friday that would require President Trump to appoint a global health coordinator and create an inter-agency council charged with preparing for pandemics. The bill, from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), comes after the White House garnered criticism in the midst of the coronavirus for a 2018 decision to disband the National Security Council’s global health unit, a decision former national security adviser John Bolton characterized as a ‘streamlining’…” (Carney, 4/10).

Axios: 10 times Trump and his administration were warned about coronavirus (Perano, 4/12).

CNN: Trump administration shuttered pandemic monitoring program, then scrambled to extend it (Cohen, 4/10).

Los Angeles Times: Trump, Congress scramble to revive virus-hunting agency that was marked for cuts (Rainey/Baumgaertner, 4/12).

NBC News: From Clinton to Trump, 20 years of boom and mostly bust in prepping for pandemics (Dilanian et al., 4/13).

New York Times: He Could Have Seen What Was Coming: Behind Trump’s Failure on the Virus (Lipton et al., 4/11).

POLITICO: Inside America’s 2-Decade Failure to Prepare for Coronavirus (Diamond, 4/11).

UPI: Proposed bill would require Trump to appoint global health coordinator (McCurdy, 4/11).

Washington Post: Trump administration has many task forces — but still no plan for beating covid-19 (Parker et al., 3/11).