White House Takes More Serious Tone In Urging Americans To Take Action To Mitigate COVID-19 Impacts; Birx Calls For ‘Sense Of Community’ To Prevent Disease’s Spread

CBS News: White House coronavirus response coordinator on new guidelines: “We can conquer this”
“The coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the United States. As the number of confirmed cases climbed over 4,300, the White House on Monday laid out new guidelines for Americans, urging everyone to avoid groups of 10 people or more. White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx spoke with ‘CBS Evening News’ host Norah O’Donnell for her first interview since the outbreak began…” (O’Donnell, 3/16).

Devex: Q&A: Tony Fauci on the state of pandemic security
“… ‘When you’re preparing for something that hasn’t happened yet, and then you have to respond to something that actually has happened, you are not necessarily prepared for the exact thing that’s going to happen,” said Tony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Devex spoke to Fauci about what his institute is doing — and what global health organizations need to do — to better prepare governments and health systems for those inevitable, unpredictable threats…” (Igoe, 3/17).

New York Times: Trump Urges Limits Amid Pandemic, but Stops Short of National Mandates
“President Trump, under pressure to take more significant steps to slow the spreading coronavirus, recommended on Monday that Americans stop unnecessary travel and avoid bars, restaurants, and groups of more than 10 people, as he warned that the outbreak could extend well into the summer…” (Rogers et al., 3/16).

Washington Times: Deborah Birx brings decades of HIV/AIDS experience to fight coronavirus
“…At the daily White House press conferences on the coronavirus, Dr. Birx frequently draws comparisons between HIV/AIDS and the fast-spreading virus causing pneumonia-like symptoms that has killed more than 6,500 worldwide since emerging last year in Wuhan, China. ‘We had another silent epidemic: HIV,’ she said at Monday’s briefing. ‘I just want to recognize, the HIV epidemic was solved by the community, the HIV advocates and activists who stood up when no one was listening and got everyone’s attention. We’re asking that same sense of community to come together and stand up against this virus’…” (Richardson, 3/16).

Additional coverage of the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is available from Fox, NBC, New York Times, Out, POLITICO (2), Reuters (2), STAT, and Washington Post.

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