World Health Organization: COVID-19 Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) (Feb 2020)
Over the first 6 weeks of the new decade, the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has spread from the People’s Republic of China to 20 other countries.
On 30 January 2020 following the recommendations of the Emergency Committee, the WHO Director General declared that the outbreak constitutes a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
In view of the urgency of this outbreak, the international community is mobilising to find ways to significantly accelerate the development of interventions.
It's worth noting that there were repeated warnings something like COVID would come out of China, and the US had been conducting a lot of "disease surveillance" around the world looking for exactly something like COVID, under programs set up by Obama, to try and nip them in the bud before they spread to more developed nations.
Guess who ended those programs almost the second he got into office?
It's not fair to say he was directly responsible, but...imagine if we'd had those programs, along with people in the federal administration and congress who believed in science, instead of believing in a personality cult, retribution for perceived slights, homophobia/transphobia, grift, extreme environmental and economic selfishness, and ripping apart as much as they possibly could?
7 million people died from COVID...
Simply to point back at an earlier PHEIC event ... providing contrast to a now [dead] comment.
> worth noting that there were repeated warnings something like COVID would come out of China
Or Africa, or India, or USofA intensive livestock practices, or {other places that intensified novel interminglings of humans, livestock, drugs, etc}.
> the US had been conducting a lot of "disease surveillance" around the world ...
Smart move, and cost effective ... had the responses remained in place.
> but...imagine if we'd had those programs, along with people in the federal administration and congress who believed in science
Yeah .. if so the US and UK may have had very different outcomes, perhaps even near zero deaths and few hospitalisations such as was seen in W.Australia. They did have an advantage with pre existing near isolation, but still had to stamp out a fair few sparks that could've gone wildfire.
Soft power is useless. All it got us is a bunch of old Americans scammed in 419 from Nigeria. Who gives a fuck.
China shows the right path. No PEPFAR, no Iran, no Ukraine, just mind own business. For decades, everyone has told us to get out of other people’s business. I can understand if they criticize Iran etc but ending PEPFAR is about getting out of other people’s business.