Barack Obama in BusinessInsider.com


On Health Care: Created pandemic department for emergency response

[In 2005], President George W. Bush read "The Great Influenza," by historian John M. Barry. He was shaken by the story of a mysterious plague that killed millions worldwide [the Spanish Flu of 1918-19]. He feared it˙could happen again.

He told his Homeland Security team, "Look, this happens every 100 years. We need a national strategy." In an 11/5/05 speech outlining the plan, he said, "if we wait for a pandemic to appear, it will be too late to prepare." The administration created a 381-page plan that would outline the proper responses to possible virus outbreaks.

Sections of this plan were implemented in 2014 when an Ebola patient was discovered in the US President Barack Obama and his administration escalated the planning through the creation of a department within the National Security Council to plan and prepare for possible emergencies. The plan was passed on to Donald Trump's incoming administration [who disbanded the offices prior to the coronavirus pandemic].

Source: Business Insider, YouTube video "Totally Under Control" Sep 14, 2020

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Page last updated: Oct 11, 2020