To have officials say they can’t cancel or limit attendance or legally enforce social distancing measures for this SD rally of tens or hundreds of thousands of people is example of why we can’t get control of COVID. That’s what leader’s job should be. 1/x apple.news/AWZllgpUXSCaX6…
To say that it’s up to individuals to decide it they want to go into crowded bar and take on risk of getting infected or possibly infecting a whole lot of others is not right. We don’t say it’s up to individuals to decide if they want to drive under the influence of alcohol 2/x
SD had increase of 25% in Covid cases in last 2 weeks and has 8.7% test positivity rate - substantially above the 5% target covidexitstrategy.org it’s possible to do so much better - some states in the 2% or less range, being above 5% means risks are high of cases surging 3/x
Beyond increasing SD risks, these kinds of large national gatherings, esp if social distancing not required and crowded indoor gatherings are part of what will happen, is that people then drive home to states around country and increase risks of spread in many states.4/x
This is not on the path that other countries have pursued to get this virus successfully under control 5/end
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It's strongly against US interests to withdraw from @WHO -that decision should be reconsidered and reversed. Leaving WHO would hurt the US in many ways and communicate that we dont care about the work of improving health in other parts of the world. 1/xnytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/…
WHO provides early warning about what's happening around the world. It also helps countries that are trying to prevent and rapidly respond to new epidemics -- those events are more likely to happen and spread to the US without strong support from WHO and its partners. 2/x
WHO provides health and scientific data to the US about what is happening in the world that will not be available if we withdraw. 3/x
The testing approach to H5N1 in cattle (in the link) needs to change substantially. @USDA_APHIS may be doing what it can now with minimal resources, but testing needs to expand, get simpler, more available and transparent.
1/xaphis.usda.gov/sites/default/…
The testing protocol is too complicated. It also only allows testing in cows that meet a specific profile. It only provides for limited number of tests per premises. 2/x
Given the quickly increasing number of farms w/ infected cows, the number of farms that are impacted that have had minimal interaction with others, the uncertainty on mechanism of spread and extent of disease, testing for H5N1 in cattle should change in a number of ways asap: 3/x
I want to commend the Biden Admin for its new Executive Order on #AI - strong leadership & action on ensuring safe, secure development of AI, both to pursue all of it's great promise, but also to address serious biological risks and dangers (1/9)whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
The EO rightly commits to attracting world’s leading AI talent, to using AI to drive innovation. AI will help accelerate new vaccines + therapeutics, improve access to Dx tools, help w/ forecasting, etc. But EO recognizes strong governance also needed to prevent misuse (2/9)
The EO requires OSTP to establish a gene synthesis screening framework that reduces risks that dangerous viruses will be created de novo in a lab. It requires criteria & mechanisms for identifying high risk orders, screening customers, processes for reporting concerns (3/9)
Important and good new COVID Winter Preparedness plan and actions announced today by Administration. Sets out plans of the Admin and its local gov & community partners to cope with rising COVID hospitalizations and mortality in country. 1/x whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…
COVID cases and hospitalizations are up in most US states across the country, COVID deaths are rising nationally. And wastewater monitoring shows increasing COVID in all regions. So this Winter Preparedness Plan from the Administration is important 2/x nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Households can now order 4 more COVID home tests through COVIDtests.gov starting today. This is in addition to continued coverage of 8 free tests a month through private insurance and Medicare; thousands of free testing sites across country. 3/x
So glad to moderate the panel conversation on Catastrophic Contagion and pandemic preparedness w/ distinguished colleagues Drs. Bemo, Hanefeld and Ryan, today in Brussels at the Gates Foundation sponsored Grand Challenges meeting 1/x
A few themes and lessons coming out of that conversation: 2/x
Preparing and responding to epidemics can't be flown in from the outside. Needs to be built from the ground up with investment, strong leadership and good regional partnership 3/x
We just completed the quite valuable Catastrophic Contagion pandemic exercise in Brussels, in partnership with @gatesfoundation and @WHO at the Grand Challenges annual meeting 1/x
The extraordinary group of participants were comprised of 10 current / past Health Ministers and senior public health officials from Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Angola, Liberia, Singapore, India, Germany, and the US, as well as Mr. Bill Gates 2/x
The exercise simulated a series of WHO health advisory board meetings in a fictional pandemic set in the near future. Participants grappled with an epidemic located in one part of the world that spread rapidly to become pandemic 3/x