Having worked w/ @CDCgov & ph law for 30 years, I'm deeply concerned that @CDCgov & @DistrictofC ph are being pushed aside in investigating major #COVID19 clusters at the @WhiteHouse. The @WhiteHouse is a public health & ethics free zone. It is lawless. Why? See this thread 1/X 
Let's start w/ an analogy that seems over the top. Suppose the president assaulted a staffer in the @WhiteHouse. DC law enforcement doesn't have jurisdiction. What if @POTUS directed @FBI to stand down? Lawlessness, right? But that's not the same as #COVID transmission. Wrong!
Knowingly exposing others to #SARSCoV2 w/ ongoing transmission would produce even greater harm. @CDCgov has core expertise to trace contacts, find patient zero, save lives. But @Potus freezes CDC out. Stand down. DC health can't protect the public b/c it can't access @WhiteHouse
What would happen in a sane, safe world? @WhiteHouse physicians would rapidly report COVID positive patients to DC Health. @CDCgov would then partner w/ DC Health to test, trace, isolate, quarantine. Everyone else follows those ph rules
It is the very purpose of CDC and DC Health to safeguard the public from infectious diseases. That's is their legal mandate & that is their core expertise. Imagine a lawless world where they're both totally excluded. That is the USA today.
DC law requires physicians & other health providers to rapidly report COVID-positive cases. The District would then strictly isolate infected patients, trace contacts & quarantine those w/ close exposure. It would be unthinkable to mingle w/ the public, especially w/o a mask.
Failure to comply w/ DC ph law is an offense. Health officials & police could enforce the law, requiring safe behavior.
The @CDCgov's quarantine regs & Public Health Service Act grant the agency the power & duty to prevent interstate transmission of infectious diseases. Many in the @WhiteHouse live in VA or MD. COVID-19 is being spread not only on federal land, but in the District, MD, VA & beyond
How is it possible that in the heart of our govt a cluster of COVID cases can emerge, spread to Cong, the Pentagon, presidential debate, & to communities throughout the region? And we have no right to know. We can't rely on core ph agencies to protect us.
The @WhiteHouse has become an ethics-free, public health-free, and law-free zone? Does that comport with American values? Let @CDCgov & DC health do their jobs to protect the public. Enforce ph laws. COVID spread won't stop w/ top officials. It will affect families & communities
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