Yes, previous presidents did work on pandemics

In a recent letter to the editor, Bobbie Mignin writes that the president deserves support and not blame for his pandemic response and asks, "Why didn't those previous presidents have a pandemic protocol in place?"

In 2005, George Bush said "If we wait for a pandemic to appear it will be too late to prepare." His pandemic plan stressed social distancing, school and large gathering cancellations, besides other measures. Mr. Bush faced the SARS epidemic of 2003 and the bird flu of 2005.

In facing H1N1 (swine flu), Barack Obama declared a Public Health emergency April 26, 2009, requested $7.65 billion dollars two days later and six weeks before the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. Obama launched the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2009, which identified 1,200 different viruses that had the potential to become pandemics, including 160 novel coronaviruses. The initiative trained and supported staff in 60 foreign laboratories and 30 countries, including the Wuhan lab that identified SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19. Funding for that program ended in September 2019 and was not renewed by the Trump Administration.

The transition team between the Obama and Trump Administrations conducted a "Crimson Contagion" pandemic exercise after Trump's inauguration.

In addition, the Obama administration turned over a 69-page pandemic playbook to the incoming staff entitled "Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biologic Incidents." This playbook included questions to be answered such as "Is there sufficient personal protective equipment for health care workers? If yes, what are the triggers to signal exhaustion of supplies?"

So I think the question that Bobbie Mignin asks - "was there a pandemic protocol from previous presidents?" - is answered yes. My question is why did it take the Trump Administration so long to act and what would have happened if they had?

Jane Hodgkinson

Wheaton