Thursday, January 30, 2020

Another amazing and difficult day. Briefed the House Energy and Commerce Committee members in Rayburn 2123. All my friends kept saying I was a national hero and they “….felt safe in my arms (Eschoo)”. Testifying with me were Bob redfield, Bob Kadlec and denise Hinton (FDA). The chaos: We had 2 PCCS led by Ruggiero and one Deputies lead by Mick Mulvaney with the usal cast of characters. Case in point. Mart Cetron who was listening in on the WHO call said that the epidemic was accelerating that this is was clear that the incubation period was shorter (2-5 days than was previously felt and that asymptomatic transmission was occurring. Thus, it was agreed to present to the POTUS a revised plan for containment: The 200 people at March Base would be quarantines for 15 days. Anyone coming in from Wuhan would be quarantined for 15 days. Anyone from any part of China would be voluntarily isolated for 15 days with monitoring by public health officials (State/Local). Azar would declare a Public Health Emergency and the State Department level alert would be level 4. The number of cases today are: 9480 with 213 deaths. It is increasing by about 25% per day. In 1 month it has surpassed SARS for 1 year (8000). WHO Declares a PHEIC Politico (Dan Diamond) is coming out with an article bashing badly Azar. HHS COMS had me speak to Dan and I greatly praised Azar. The POTUS announced the Coronavirus Task Force today (see below): Members of the President’s Coronavirus Task Force: Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services Robert O’Brien, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun, Department of State Ken Cuccinelli, Acting Deputy Secretary, Department of Homeland Security Joel Szabat, Acting Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Transportation Matthew Pottinger, Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor Rob Blair, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff Joseph Grogan, Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council Christopher Liddell, Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination Derek Kan, Executive Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget PRESS: FOX – “Fox and Friends”; ABC TV local; NBC TV local; PBS NewsHour; WTOP radio X2