Thread on whtat's next, operationally, with #coronavirus now that the @who is reconvening to determine whether it is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Again, its been invoked before. It's both reactionary and precautionary. But things will happen 1/
As an aside, I am not a doctor. Every crisis has brains and muscles; the brains here are the medical professionals who are making assessments that will drive resources (the muscle). That's focus here and I'm comfortable that there are still a lot of unknowns about the virus. 2/
For #homelandsecurity, three different types of obligations will follow from the designation. The first are the obligations of UN member nations when a PHEIC is invoked. Those include: duty to disclose, duty for information sharing, resource allocation, vaccine identification 3/
Think of these as a global response: situational awareness, transparency, solution. WHO will make recommendations regarding travel and borders, likely, though member nations can set their own criteria. 4/
The second set are what is happening in US. We do not have a pandemic preparedness office, a strong homeland security office, or a "czar." Who is in charge? We don't know yet and we know Trump shifts between strong operational control to agnosticism depending on the crisis. 5/
In a functioning bureaucracy, a few things would be set in place after the designation: communications strategy, training and identification for health care professionals, border and airport controls (some have occurred), isolation strategies, 6/
state/local/tribal/territorial (SLTT) outreach and communication, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for our border agencies like TSA (they will start to demand it). This isn't rocket science. The plans are there and a PHEIC would trigger their utilization. 7/
3rd set of obligations are voluntary and US is different than it was. Mainly, will we play offense (I've been talking mostly defense). During Ebola, US set a standard for aggressive offense measures in Africa out of altruism and self-interest; they are compatible.@RonaldKlain 8/
Playing offense is not likely, though the global health community and private sector may fill in the gaps. But I suspect America First means that the benefits of America's leadership in a global pandemic are not considered by this WH. It's a shame, but that's another convo. 9/
Again, the science guides the operations -- ideally. That's what we should demand. With a functioning bureaucracy led by a WH lead, we'd want to have all of this in place so that when the @WHO does invoke the PHEIC, we won't be shocked or scared. 10/
A PHEIC has happened before; it sets a series of responses that have been played out, gamed & practiced. As citizens, we are owed an understanding of where as a nation we are on preparedness and response, especially because the US is not yet in a crisis.
A girl can dream 11/11
A girl can dream 11/11
