A pandemic plan was in place. Trump abandoned it — and science — in the face of Covid-19
Trump spent the past 2 years slashing the government agencies responsible for handling the coronavirus outbreak:
Here are some other actions the Trump administration undertook to dismantle government-spending programs related to fighting the spread of global diseases, according to Foreign Policy:
In 2018, for instance, the CDC cut 80% of its efforts to prevent global disease outbreaks because it was running out of money. Ultimately, the department went from working in 49 countries to just 10.
Shutting down the entire global-health-security unit of the National Security Council.
Eliminating the US government's $30 million Complex Crises Fund.
Reducing national health spending by $15 billion.
Consistently attacking Mark Green, the director of the US Agency for International Development.
The CDC is working on a new test to screen for the coronavirus, but according to New York magazine, problems with the test's development resulted in only three out of 100 public-health labs being equipped to screen for the virus. Moreover, each test costs as much as $250, and the Health and Human Services Department is already running out of money to finance an adequate response to the outbreak.
2017 - Senate and House Leaders Raise Concerns About the Impact of President Trump's Decisions on HHS and CDC Preparedness for a Flu Pandemic