USAID to shut down its coronavirus task force
Source: Politico
The U.S. Agency for International Development, which has been on the front lines of the battle with the coronavirus, is about to shut down the task force it set up to tackle the still-ongoing pandemic. The decision is being met with concerns by some who fear it will lead to greater dysfunction at USAID, which already faces personnel and structural turmoil. Others, however, say the task force was poorly managed and that its functions can be delegated.
The task force is set to be deactivated on Wednesday, according to an internal note to staffers that was shared with POLITICO. A spokesperson for USAID did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The task force is shutting down as the pandemic continues to kill; the U.S. is on the verge of 190,000 deaths, while the global death toll is nearing 900,000, according to researchers tracking the virus.
The decision to end the task force also comes as President Donald Trump and his aides downplay the pandemic in the run-up to November’s elections. During the Republican National Convention, for instance, economic adviser Larry Kudlow spoke of the pandemic in the past tense ...
The White House has also stopped its regular news conferences focused on the pandemic, while largely sidelining the interagency coronavirus task force and its leading scientists, Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx. According to the aid agency’s note and people familiar with the issue, the responsibilities of the USAID task force will be handed to other agency bureaus and divisions.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/08/usaid-shuts-down-coronavirus-task-force-409885?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=0000014e-f115-dd93-ad7f-f91513e50001&nlid=964328
USAID acting administrator John Barsa said that many of the task force’s responsibilities would be handled by a new planning cell called “Over the Horizon”
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