Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Day-Long Email Crash Crippled Federal Health Offices As Coronavirus Was First Gaining Grounds In U.S.
As health department officials worked quickly to negotiate an emergency funding package to fight the spreading coronavirus outbreak on Feb. 23, they came to a frustrating realization: Their email system had crashed. The outage in the Health and Human Services secretary鈥檚 office stretched on much of the day, with some messages delayed up to 11 hours, creating frustration and slowing the Trump administration鈥檚 coronavirus response. (Diamond, 3/10)
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday he was unaware of any indication from his agency that physical barriers along America鈥檚 borders would help halt the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S. 鈥 contradicting an assertion President Donald Trump made earlier in the day. Appearing before House lawmakers to testify about the public health crisis and the White House鈥檚 budget request for his agency, Redfield was asked by Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) whether the CDC鈥檚 recommendations for combating the coronavirus addressed whether 鈥渟tructural barriers鈥 at the borders 鈥渨ould be of any use in mitigating鈥 the growing outbreak. (Forgey, 3/10)
And in other news about the government 鈥
The Trump administration is racing to develop contingency plans that would allow hundreds of thousands of employees to work remotely full time, an extreme scenario to limit the coronavirus that would test whether the government can carry out its mission from home offices and kitchen tables. The Office of Personnel Management, which oversees policy for the workforce of 2.1 million, has urged agency heads in recent days to 鈥渋mmediately review鈥 their telework policies, sign paperwork with employees laying out their duties, issue 颅laptops and grant access to computer networks. (Rein, 3/10)
A federal regulator canceled a planned public vote this week in which officials were expected to give some companies relief from audit requirements after an employee was referred for novel coronavirus testing. The Securities and Exchange Commission鈥檚 move highlights a new front in the growing spectrum of potential impacts from the coronavirus: the possibility that its spread in the nation鈥檚 capital could slow down routine government policy-making. (Kiernan, 3/10)
