Editorial, Opinion Pieces Discuss COVID-19, Outbreak Preparedness, U.S. Response
Washington Post: Coronavirus dangers loom. Complacency is one of them.
Editorial Board
“…The [coronavirus] is highly infectious, and an explosion of cases over the weekend in South Korea, Italy, and Iran suggests the window of opportunity for containment is ‘narrowing,’ as the World Health Organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, put it Friday. If the fire starts to burn beyond the firebreak, then strategy shifts to mitigation: helping the sick cope, saving lives, and keeping economic and logistical lifelines open. … To make sure workers are protected, health care systems must prepare now with personal protective equipment — masks and more. Just as important is public response. … If the virus begins to spread widely, it will require such simple individual responses as hand-washing, and it may demand social isolation: closed schools, idled mass transit, disrupted businesses, and canceled events. It is absolutely essential that governments — starting in Washington — be able to speak with credibility and authority. All experience suggests that truth and transparency are as indispensable as face masks. … If the case data from China on Monday is correct, and the epidemic there is easing, then there is hope it will not become a global pandemic. But a moment of optimism should not distract from preparations for a less favorable outcome” (2/24).
The Atlantic: You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus
James Hamblin, preventive medicine physician and staff writer at The Atlantic (2/24).
Bloomberg: The Coronavirus Is Starting to Go Global
David Fickling, Bloomberg opinion columnist (2/24).
CNN: Under Trump, America is less prepared for a coronavirus outbreak
Chelsea Clinton, vice chair of the Clinton Foundation and lecturer at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and Devi Sridhar, professor and chair in Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh’s Medical School (2/24).
Foreign Policy: The West Is About to Fail the Coronavirus Test
Melissa Chan, collaborator with the Global Reporting Centre and term member with the Council on Foreign Relations, and Ethan Guillén, executive director of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (2/24).
Global Health NOW: COVID-19 Expert Reality Check
Multiple authors (February 2020).
The Hill: Coronavirus and what needs to be done to get in front of global pandemics
Jonathan Fielding, professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (2/24).
New York Times: The Coronavirus Is More Than a Disease. It’s a Test.
Ross Douthat, opinion columnist at the New York Times (2/25).
Project Syndicate: Will the Coronavirus Trigger a Global Recession?
Jeffrey Frankel, professor at Harvard University and research associate at the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (2/24).
South China Morning Post: Letters: Climate change and coronaviruses: a warming world encourages the emergence and spread of new infectious diseases
Wendell Chan, program officer at Friends of the Earth (HK) (2/24).
Washington Post: Years of coronavirus warnings got us nowhere. Here’s how to fix that.
William Haseltine, founder of Harvard University’s cancer and HIV/AIDS research departments and chair and president of ACCESS Health International (2/18).
Washington Post: Here are the steps Trump should take to counter coronavirus fears
Hugh Hewitt, political analyst for NBC, professor at Chapman University Law School, and president of the Nixon Foundation (2/24).
Washington Post: As coronavirus fear grips Wall Street, the White House moves decisively to protect Trump from germs
Dana Milbank, opinion columnist at the Washington Post (2/24).
The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.