Fighting threat of deadly virus
Vice President Mike Pence, President Donald Trump and Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director Anne Schuchat speak to the media in the James S. Brady Briefing room with members of the Coronavirus Task Force at the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday. Credit: ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shuttersto/ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
On Wednesday, the curtain finally came up on the response to the coronavirus, as local, state and federal officials emerged ready to reassure and to caution.
The message was a mixed one, but it has to be. They’re in control, they have plans to address the COVID-19 outbreak, everyone’s on top of this. But there’s still an awful lot they don’t know. And the potential for the virus to become a pandemic is real.
When President Donald Trump spoke to the nation Wednesday evening, he repeatedly downplayed the threat even as a troubling new case that initially wasn’t traceable to a known outbreak was confirmed in northern California. And a top official for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised businesses, schools, and other institutions to have “pandemic preparedness plans” ready and asked the American public “to prepare, and for you to know what this means for you.”
Trump delegated the federal response to Vice President Mike Pence.
The virus has spread to six continents and 37 countries and sickened more than 81,000. In the United States, there are 60 confirmed cases.
Earlier Wednesday, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo emphasized that there have been no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New York State. Still, their high level of concern was clear.
On Long Island, the two counties are monitoring more than 100 people who either traveled to China, as required by the CDC, or were otherwise potentially exposed, for symptoms of the disease. Statewide, 27 New Yorkers have had their samples tested by the CDC. As of Wednesday afternoon, 26 were negative and one — a Nassau County case — was still pending.
Cuomo is calling on the federal government to authorize the Wadsworth Center in Albany and New York City’s Public Health Laboratory to do their own testing for the virus. The labs now have such capability, the state said, so federal approval should happen for the state to get answers more quickly as suspect cases emerge. This is urgent.
And the State Legislature should authorize the $40 million in emergency funds for the state Health Department that Cuomo is seeking, while also giving the department authority to manage the situation and develop standard protocols for local officials to use.
Then there’s the critical effort to plan for what might happen next. If the virus comes to New York, everyone, from individual schools to the state’s airports and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, must be prepared. Suffolk County plans a “tabletop exercise” next week, during which agencies will prepare for scenarios. Nassau officials are meeting with a group of school superintendents on Thursday.
Still, the fear is palpable. Airport workers say they’re worried and need more training and protections, which the state says they’ll get. Local business owners, especially those with a presence in or connection to China, say they’ve been affected. And the stock market continues to fall.
The promises that officials have a handle on this can only go so far. Now, they have to guide the nation, the state and the region through the crisis — which is far from over.
— The editorial board
