
It sure looks like the grim reapers are @SecPompeo @realDonaldTrump with an assist from @AmbJohnBolton https://twitter.com/ericgarland/status/1250123836223356928?s=21



December 2017: The Trump administration bans the CDC from using the terms “evidence-based” and “science-based.” https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/
In January 2018, State Department cables warned of safety issues at Wuhan lab studying bat coronaviruses https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/

February 13, 2018: The Intelligence Community’s Worldwide Threat Assessment warns of major pandemic risks https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/
April 10, 2018: Bolton fires Homeland Security Advisor, Tom Bossert. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/

The White House sends a plan to Congress proposing budget cuts. It includes cutting out $252 million for health security preparedness in funds remaining from the 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/

May 8, 2018: The top WH official responsible for leading the U.S. response in the event of a deadly pandemic has left the adm, & the global health security team he oversaw has been disbanded under a reorganization by national security adviser John Bolton. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/05/10/top-white-house-official-in-charge-of-pandemic-response-exits-abruptly/


September 18, 2018: President Trump issues a Presidential Memorandum and National Biodefense Strategy designed to ensure a comprehensive and coordinated approach to biological incidents. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/
The National Biodefense Strategy outlines a high-level roadmap of the U.S. response to biological threats and incidents.. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/
The 2018 report identifies the need to “establish manufacturing surge capacity” for diagnostic tests and personal protective equipment in anticipation of a pandemic. https://www.justsecurity.org/69650/timeline-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic-and-u-s-response/


A study published last fall went unheeded. One of its authors now says economic shutdowns to fight the coronavirus could last up to eight months. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/business/coronavirus-economy-trump.html


Field work ceased when the funding ran out in September, and organizations that worked on the PREDICT program laid off dozens of scientists and analysts, said Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, a key player in the program. https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2020-04-02/coronavirus-trump-pandemic-program-viruses-detection




Jan 2020: Within days, U.S. spy agencies were signaling the seriousness of the threat to Trump by including a warning about the coronavirus — the first of many — in the President’s Daily Brief.
#ReleaseThePDB https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=st2
#ReleaseThePDB https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-us-was-beset-by-denial-and-dysfunction-as-the-coronavirus-raged/ar-BB12akzb?ocid=st2



Two years before the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the world, U.S. Embassy officials visited a Chinese research facility in the city of Wuhan several times and sent two official warnings back to Washington about inadequate safety at the lab, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
Which was conducting risky studies on coronaviruses from bats. The cables have fueled discussions inside the U.S. government about whether this or another Wuhan lab was the source of the virus — even though conclusive proof has yet to emerge. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
In January 2018, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing took the unusual step of repeatedly sending U.S. science diplomats to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). #G4S https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
Which had in 2015 become China’s first laboratory to achieve the highest level of international bioresearch safety (known as BSL-4). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
What the U.S. officials learned during their visits concerned them so much that they dispatched two diplomatic cables categorized as Sensitive But Unclassified back to Washington. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/


In November 2017, just before the US officials’ visit, Shi’s team had published research showing that horseshoe bats they had collected from a cave in Yunnan province were very likely from the same bat population that spawned the SARS coronavirus in 2003. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/

From Ebola to Covid-19, many of the deadliest viruses to emerge in recent years have the same animal source. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-bats-behind-the-pandemic-11586440959?emailToken=8264d95c8070321eb6da8b3544aba1f7TT58cFRXTcgWkbaeCGrLoiV4QnGaAAmfmMKM4YJS2wyFKCk3qsbzasL5EQTSKqhaZ2bDBY3gjln9Fq2wUJvfIQ%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share
“Most importantly,” the 2018 cable states, “the researchers also showed that various SARS-like coronaviruses can interact with ACE2, the human receptor identified for SARS-coronavirus. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/




There are similar concerns about the nearby Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention lab, which operates at biosecurity level 2, a level significantly less secure than the level-4 standard claimed by the Wuhan Insititute of Virology lab, Xiao said. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/


“The cable was a warning shot,” one US official said. “They were begging people to pay attention to what was going on” (in Wuhan)
No extra assistance to the Wuhan labs was provided by the US gov’t in response to these cables.
@realDonaldTrump @SecPompeo https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
No extra assistance to the Wuhan labs was provided by the US gov’t in response to these cables.
@realDonaldTrump @SecPompeo https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/04/14/state-department-cables-warned-safety-issues-wuhan-lab-studying-bat-coronaviruses/
COVID-19 TimeLine v1
https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1245148181366599680?s=21 https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1245148181366599680
https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1245148181366599680?s=21 https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1245148181366599680
Sept 2019
Exclusive: U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak
HT @ItheMissingLink
https://www.physiciansweekly.com/exclusive-u-s-axed-cdc/
Exclusive: U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak
HT @ItheMissingLink
https://www.physiciansweekly.com/exclusive-u-s-axed-cdc/