POLITICO's Pulse Check

The Wuhan coronavirus: Understanding the threat and government response

Episode Summary

A former HHS emergency-response official explains what we know about the coronavirus outbreak and how the U.S. government fights to stop potential pandemics.

Episode Notes

More than 100 people are dead from a new virus that originated in Wuhan, China, and thousands of others around the world are infected as the outbreak spreads quickly. How worried should we be?

Chris Meekins, who served as a top emergency-response official at HHS, joined POLITICO's Dan Diamond to explain what we know about the new coronavirus and how his former HHS team fights viral outbreaks like this one.

MENTIONED ON THIS SHOW

The health department has warned that the virus is a threat but stressed that Americans should not be worried about their personal safety.

U.S. officials have praised China's response on the coronavirus outbreak — up to a point.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, campaigning for Democrats' presidential nomination, released a new plan to fight infectious disease.

The U.S. government has a secret stockpile of drugs and supplies meant to save us in a bioterror attack, Lena Sun wrote last year in the Washington Post.