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This could change life in the US with the coronavirus 2:16
(CNN) - A complainant from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking federal protection after he complained that more than a dozen workers received the first Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China , lacked adequate training or protective equipment for the control of coronavirus infection.
"We hope that the Congress and the Office of the United States Special Counselor (OSC) will investigate this case in a timely and comprehensive manner," Ari Wilkenfeld, the complainant's lawyer, told CNN. “This issue concerns HHS's response to the coronavirus and its inability to protect its employees and potentially the public. Retaliation efforts to intimidate and silence our client must be opposed. ”
The Washington Post was the first to report the complaint and cited an edited complaint obtained from attorneys alleging that HHS personnel were “deployed incorrectly” and “did not receive adequate training or equipment to operate in an emergency health situation. public ”. The complainant also alleges that he was unfairly reassigned after raising concerns.
Zachary Kurz, communications director of the United States Office of Special Counsel, confirmed to CNN that "OSC has received the complaint and the case has been assigned."
CNN has not independently reviewed the complaint.
William Walters, executive director and managing director of Operational Medicine at the Office of Medical Services of the State Department, rejected the accusations when asked about the report during a coronavirus hearing on Thursday afternoon before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Camera.
While he did not talk about the specific problems described in the Washington Post story, he addressed the problem based on his own experiences while traveling with staff to China for evacuation missions of US citizens from China.
“I can talk, having been on those missions, and certainly the first trip out of Wuhan, the second, the third, in Princess Diamond, and based on a relationship I've had with the HHS, with (Secretary of Defense Mark) Esper and the CDC date back to 2014. All precautions have been taken, ”he said.
When asked if he saw someone without protective equipment, Walters replied: "No, I can say unequivocally that everyone involved in these evacuations was properly equipped and trained."
During the hearing, another State Department official, Ian Brownlee, showed a photo of HHS workers in costumes for hazardous materials while they processed people leaving the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which was quarantined in Japan after the virus exploded on board.
The news of the complaint of the complainant and the alleged incident occurs when the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Alexander Azar, has been criticized for his handling of the response to the coronavirus. President Donald Trump has privately expressed his frustration with his HHS secretary, accusing Azar of not keeping him sufficiently updated, CNN reported Wednesday.
Thursday also marked a new approach to communication management. Vice President Mike Pence's office is now in charge of all messages about the coronavirus, after several aides blame the negative coverage of the response to too many mixed messages from senior members of the administration.
Trump announced during a press conference at the White House on Wednesday that he was putting Pence "in charge" of the administration's coronavirus response, adding that Pence will inform him directly. Minutes later, Azar said he was "still chairman of the working group", confusing the message and perhaps contradicting the point of the press conference on who is in charge of the administration's response to the crisis.
Azar also said that the coronavirus represents a low risk for the American public, despite warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the contrary.
"The immediate risk to the American public is and remains low," he said in the briefing.
The CDC website page on coronavirus states that "the potential public health threat that COVID-19 represents is high, both globally and in the United States."
The coronavirus outbreak originated in Wuhan, China, in December and has since increased to more than 82,000 cases and 2,800 deaths worldwide. Recently, there has been an outbreak of the virus in Italy and an increase in cases in South Korea.
Ross Levitt, Kaitlan Collins and Maegan Vázquez of CNN contributed to this report.
