Senior officials from the United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) have alerted US citizens to prepare for the spread of coronavirus in the country, following the rise of infections in several other countries in recent weeks. While the immediate risk in the United States is low, experts warned that the current trajectory and scale of the situation suggested a pandemic was likely.
Dr Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases said that the spread of the virus was inevitable, and could lead to severe disruption of everyday life. She added, “it’s not so much of a question of if this will happen in this country anymore, but a question of when and how many people will be infected.”
The agency tweeted its concerns on Tuesday evening, urging American communities, businesses, and health and education institutions to be prepared and understand that the situation could significantly worsen. This indicates a shift in the institution’s response to the problem, which until now was focused on stopping the virus from entering the country and quarantining individuals travelling from China. CDC also noted that the number of cases in the United States has risen to 57, with 4 more patients who were passengers on the Diamond Princess Cruise ship being diagnosed with the virus.
There is significant unease among US policymakers regarding the current administration’s willingness and ability to address the situation, given that President Donald Trump insists on characterizing it as “a problem that’s going to go away”, and has made systematic efforts to dismantle government spending programs related to fighting the global spread of diseases. However, Dr Messonnier stated that the CDC is working with the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to enact quarantines and to repatriate citizens from high-risk areas. Separately, HHS Secretary Alex Azar has also asked lawmakers to approve $2.5 billion in funding to fight the outbreak after proposing cuts to the department’s budget.
Image Source: The New York Times