As President Joe Biden works to implement a more robust set of strategies to address the coronavirus pandemic than those during his predecessor’s tenure, national security adviser Jake Sullivan pointed out shortcomings under the previous administration that may have contributed to the current severity of the outbreak .
“What I believe is that the Trump administration was not taking pandemic surveillance as seriously as it should,” the White House official said on Sunday morning. Face the nation, where he recognizes the importance of foresight comments to Margaret Brennan of CBS News.
“I think this is absolutely the case, and we’ve seen this in COVID-19, that pandemics are one of the most serious threats to American life and livelihood,” Sullivan told the program moderator. “And that is why our intelligence community across the board should increase its tools, resources and practices to focus on detecting, preventing and responding to pandemics.”
A comprehensive effort to take these steps “is something the Biden administration will pursue,” he continued. When asked whether the intelligence community under Trump failed in that regard, Sullivan cited the former administration’s decision to disband the Global Health Security and Biodefense team – established in 2015 during Barack Obama’s presidency for the express purpose of pandemic preparedness.
“That’s the kind of thing, the kind of step, that we can’t foresee,” Sullivan said. So whether we are talking about the types of policy instruments required, the types of intelligence instruments required, or the type of engagement with international business institutions that is required … it will be important for any future government to improve global health, bio-preparedness and pandemic preparedness according to the highest priority of national security. “
The National Security Officer also shared brief comments on the origin from COVID-19. Clearly, the earliest published cases of the respiratory disease were identified in Wuhan, China, during the latter part of 2019, and speculation for some time linked the emergence to a laboratory within the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
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Theories of how the virus emerged are suspected throughout the pandemic. In January, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the federal department “had reason to believe” that researchers at the virology institute were ill with COVID-19 19 months before documented cases suggested. The State Department released additional information about the allegations around the same time, while World Health Organization staff launched an investigation.
Sullivan told Brennan on Sunday that the Biden administration could not confirm or deny reports pertaining to the origin of COVID-19 until the formal investigation is completed.
“This is why the WHO research should be left to the scientist and experts to work it out, without any interference from any government, because that’s the only way we’ll know what the origins of this are. to say how COVID-19 came into this world. All I can do is call on WHO to do its job the best it can. “
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Trump’s office for comment, but did not receive replies in time for publication.