https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/210414_PetersOpener_COVID19ResponseOversightHearing.pdf
Instead of acting swiftly and decisively, the previous Administration chose to sideline our nation’s foremost medical experts and failed to implement a comprehensive national strategy that left individual states to combat the virus all on their own.
In fact, we know President Trump was aware the virus was both deadly and contagious as early as February 2020. However, he continued to tell the American people it would “miraculously disappear”and initially even compared its effects to the flu, when scientific evidence clearly showed Coronavirus was more lethal.
At a time when the Administration could have provided clear and consistent communication–supported scientific guidance on needed public health measures, and ramped up production of PPE and other critical medical supplies through emergency contracts and fully invoking the Defense Production Act, among other critical actions, the previous Administration sought to downplay the virus’s severity to the public.
On top of those failures, there have been numerous reports of widespread political interference in federal agencies’ COVID-19 response, including reports that Health and Human Services political appointees reviewed and may have altered or delayed weekly scientific reports issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about the pandemic.
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