America hasn’t seen the last of killer coronaviruses. China’s “bat woman,” a Wuhan Institute of Virology scientist who handles bat viruses, is warning that the current pandemic is “just the tip of the iceberg.” Friendly advice from a researcher? Maybe, but America’s enemies are watching.
They’ve seen the devastating impact of the coronavirus here and “just how disruptive” a bioterrorism attack could be, warns Thomas Mahnken, a defense expert at Johns Hopkins. Who needs intercontinental missiles when a highly contagious, untreatable virus can paralyze the American superpower?
The untold story is that the United States is significantly more prepared than it was a mere three months ago for a germ attack. In that short time, even while marshaling resources to equip hospitals and treat patients, the Trump administration has set in motion major improvements in biodefense readiness, undoing two decades of neglect.
The same improvements will enable the United States to defend against a second wave of the coronavirus or another naturally invading virus — without another shutdown.
After all, the shutdown wasn’t caused by the coronavirus. It was a frantic response to America’s unpreparedness. The nation’s Strategic National Stockpile of medical equipment was nearly empty. Our medical supply chain put us at the mercy of China for masks, antibiotics and other supplies. Hospitals lacked enough beds and ventilators to care for the infected. The shutdown bought time.
Here’s where we stand:
Medical Supply Chain: When the pandemic began, China was the No. 1 supplier of imported surgical masks, protective goggles and generic antibiotics like tetracycline and the No. 2 source of imported mechanical ventilators, hand sanitizer and other essential supplies. In early February, China played hardball, seizing all production, even by American companies there like 3M and General Motors. In April, China held up the products again with export regulations.
The lesson: No matter where a virus originates, the tools to fight it must be made in America.
On May 19, the White House announced a contract with Virginia-based Phlow Corp. to make the raw pharmaceutical materials needed to produce drugs for COVID-19 patients, including antibiotics, sedatives for ventilator patients and pain meds.
Three months ago, ventilators symbolized America’s lack of preparedness. Now, the nation is awash in ventilators and supplying Mexico and other countries.
US Strategic National Stockpile: For more than a decade, through SARS, MERS, the avian flu and the swine flu, 10 federal reports warned about the stockpile’s inadequacy. But federal health administrators failed to even request the necessary funding. They ignored domestic preparedness, while boasting about conducting health programs in 49 other countries.
The result? When the pandemic hit, the stockpile was almost out of masks and had only a quarter of the supplies needed to treat coronavirus patients. Many supplies were expired.
Last week, President Trump announced a partnership with domestic manufacturers to keep the stockpile continuously supplied, with a target of 300 million masks by fall.
Hospital Capacity: Before the pandemic, the shortage of hospital beds was “the weakest link” in the nation’s readiness, said former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director of public-health preparedness Ali S. Khan. The nation couldn’t even handle a bad flu season, much less a biological attack. Yet nothing was done.
When the pandemic hit, the US Army Corps of Engineers and many states erected surge capacity that will outlive the current crisis. Massachusetts hospitals announced last week they will keep their surge units. New York state officials say they can get their field hospitals running in 10 to 14 days if needed.
Are there still biodefense gaps? Yes. America urgently needs more lab capacity to anonymously scan routine results for signs of an invading virus. That will be costly.
Yet former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden is urging American taxpayers to fund “thousands of life-threatening gaps in disease preparedness worldwide” and “commit to global solidarity.”
No, thanks. That’s the thinking that made America vulnerable.
Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York, chairwoman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths and author of the forthcoming book “The Next Pandemic.”