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Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
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4 Nov, 4 tweets, 4 min read
We've warned of pandemics (inc. CoV) but govts have failed to act.

Special Rapporteur Prof David Boyd "Human rights have been a catalyst for the types of transformative changes that scientists are saying that we need"

(THREAD)
#PandemicRecovery @Cambridge_Uni @BennettInst
"The achilles heel of international environmental law... is a lack of enforcement mechanisms, and human rights overcomes [that challenge]" David Boyd
#PandemicRecovery @Cambridge_Uni @BennettInst

I completely agree & have written more about this here:
opil.ouplaw.com/view/10.1093/l…
Dame Barbara Stocking: "What about the next pandemic?"
"We are pressing to have a UN Convention on Pandemics as @WHO does not have the mandate: Member States do not allow it to have an inspector function or doing what is needed to be done"
#PandemicRecovery @Cambridge_Uni
"We have to go above and beyond... We have to find something that will fill this huge gap we have [in international law and capacity] for global pandemics" Dame Barbara Stocking #PandemicRecovery @Cambridge_Uni @MECCambridge

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More from @alexandraphelan

Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
8 Oct
In past pandemic planning scenarios, we war game what would happen if the president and VP are both unable to fulfill their constitutional duties due to an infectious disease.

The Presidency, the Agencies, and Congress all have clear processes (set out below) but...
(1/5)
⏹️Presidency⏹️

Presidential Succession Act (1947) sets out order:
1⃣Vice President (M. Pence)
2⃣Speaker of the House (N. Pelosi)
3⃣Speaker pro tempore (C. Grassley)

Then Cabinet members on dept creation order starting with4⃣State (M. Pompeo)5⃣Treasury (S. Mnuchin)

(2/5)
⏹️Congress⏹️
Senate: filled by appointment
House: filled by election (rules set by states)

Quorum is necessary for many activities: in light of 9/11, in 2003, 1st Continuity of Congress Report called for a Constitutional amendment to allow for temporary elections:
(3/5)
Read 5 tweets
Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
13 Aug
Today, @nytimes has examined the CDC's data for excess mortality ("deaths above normal") over the pandemic.

Since March, at least 200,000 more Americans have died than usual.

That's ~60,000 more deaths than officially directly linked to #COVID19.

1/3
 nytimes.com/interactive/20…
You can see the pattern of excess deaths match the movement of the pandemic across the US.

This suggests that official death counts may be substantially underestimating overall effects of #covid19: inc. deaths from SARS-CoV-2 & other causes linked to the pandemic.

2/3
Accurate counts during epidemics are challenging: mortality from past pandemics (eg 1918 & 2009 flu) have been recalculated afterwards.

But this shows how critical accurate data reporting systems are & why Trump Admin's decisions on data are so worrying:
wsj.com/articles/covid…
Read 4 tweets
Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
7 Jul
We've been working on something very exciting that I can now share!

🥁Introducing 🥁

COVID Analysis & Mapping of Policies #COVIDAMP
covidamp.org

A resource for decision-makers, researchers & lawyers tracking US & global #Covid19 laws & policies ⚖️

🧵Details!
1/10 Image
Starting with the COVID AMP interactive map, you first get a visual snapshot of US cases and a quantified scale of the level of physical distancing policy & laws in place for each state.

covidamp.org/policymaps

2/10 Image
Click on any state to see what laws & policies are currently active (repealed & relaxing policies are also in the data) like:
- business shutdowns
- mass gathering bans
- facemasks

Pop up also shows you the phase of recovery & number of new #COVID19 cases over last 7 days.
3/10
Read 12 tweets
Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
11 Jun
Last night, US District Court ruled that police in Portland, Oregon are limited in using tear gas against protestors because, inter alia, the risk of irreparable harm given the #covid19 pandemic.

1. A thread on this decision & reflection on evidence between science & law.
2. The Plaintiffs claimed use of tear gas violates:
– Fourth Amendment (as excessive force as an unreasonable search and seizure) &
– First Amendment (chilling political speech)

For a restraining order, Ps had to show that irreparable injury is likely w/o injunction.
3. The Court made this finding after asking parties to provide further evidence on "the science of tear gas" and Covid19.
kptv.com/news/suit-to-s…
Read 13 tweets
Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
29 May
Legally, can President Trump withdraw the US from membership of the WHO?

– The WHO Constitution is a treaty.
– Membership of WHO requires signing the WHO Constitution & completing state domestic ratification processes (art 4).
– US has ratified the treaty.
(1/3)
*From WHO side*
WHO Constitution does not set out an express withdrawal process. This is not unusual and it is generally accepted that States are free to withdraw from international treaties & institutions (principle of state sovereignty, enshrined in Vienna Convention)
(2/3)
*US side*
Legally it's murky if the President can withdraw. While Exec has power to sign treaties, ratification follows advice & consent of Senate.
– Some argue Exec thus retains power to exit treaties
– Others argue it requires Congress consent:
(3/3)
yalelawjournal.org/forum/presiden…
Read 6 tweets
Dr Alexandra Phelan Profile picture
22 Apr
Australia has called for legal amendments to give the @WHO power to investigate outbreaks similar to UN weapons inspectors.

1. How would this be done legally? What are the implications? I haven't done a thread in a while, so here we go.

smh.com.au/politics/feder…
2. When States revised the International Health Regulations after SARS in 2005 they sought to balance sovereignty w public health but there was a "subtle but undeniable dilution of sovereign control" @Gianlucaburci, w WHO able to investigate reports from other states/ngos/media.
3. Another example of this sovereignty dilution: if a State doesn't accept WHO's offer to assist with investigating reports of an outbreak they may have, WHO may share the report with other States if it poses a public health risk (art 10).
Read 9 tweets

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