Trump administration weighs lifting coronavirus aid freeze

The Trump administration is weighing a partial carry of the clampdown on sending medical provides that has prevented the U.S. Company for Worldwide Improvement from delivery protective gear to nations in desperate want of help preventing the coronavirus, based on U.S. officials acquainted with the matter.

Businesses are discussing a draft presidential memorandum outlining the proposal, which has but to land on the president’s desk. The memo is titled “Essential Medical Supplies for Overseas Assistance” and would permit the direct procurement of some provides for overseas nations, in response to the officials.

The memo, if permitted after which signed by President Donald Trump, would partly overturn the freeze on some coronavirus help that had been put in place in current weeks. A government assessment course of successfully froze the supply of protecting gear to at the very least 13 nations, together with Vietnam, Bangladesh, Armenia and the Philippines.

The order would think about the domestic shortages of private protecting gear nonetheless plaguing the U.S. — a politically charged subject as the Trump administration scrambles to seek out urgently wanted masks, gloves and different gear for docs and nurses treating patients stricken with Covid-19, as the illness brought on by the virus is understood.

“It’s truly fairly smart as a result of it recognizes that we have a scarcity of supplies here,” stated a U.S. official.

To stop USAID from making a gift of protective gear that is wanted within the U.S., the Federal Emergency Administration Company and the Department of Health and Human Providers have made an inventory of what’s briefly provide within the U.S., one of many officers stated.

The memo would also make clear that USAID might proceed to offer medical provides for present international health packages, whether or not preventing HIV/AIDS or combating Ebola. “It’s helpful for that, to have one thing for that to proceed,” one of the officers stated. “In order that’s constructive.”

The memo originated within the National Safety Council and is 4 pages long, based on officials who described its contents. It has circulated among businesses in current days and is being reviewed by the departments of State, Protection and Homeland Security, as properly as USAID.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alluded to the dilemmas the outbreak was presenting for U.S. policymakers and help officials in remarks to reporters on Tuesday.

He announced that the U.S. would dedicate a further $225 million in “health, humanitarian and financial assistance” to assist different nations respond to the virus — on prime of some $274 million the U.S. already has dedicated.

But he also stated the U.S. plans to maintain protective gear to itself, somewhat than donate it to different nations, due to the home shortages. The new funding as an alternative will cover virus analysis, lab preparation and coaching medical professionals overseas, amongst different issues.

Pompeo burdened that the U.S. remains the world’s main humanitarian donor and that its assist is “high-quality, transparent and meaningful.” These comments have been a dig at Beijing, which has touted its own help efforts in the wake of the virus but whose donated gear has in several instances proved faulty.

Some Democrats have criticized Trump for letting virtually 18 tons of medical provides — together with masks, gowns, gauze and respirators — be despatched to China in February to assist battle the outbreak. Administration officials reject that criticism, noting that the provides despatched to China got here from personal donations, not the Strategic Nationwide Stockpile.

Spokespeople for the NSC and USAID didn't reply to requests for remark.

Nahal Toosi contributed to this report.

Src: Trump administration weighs lifting coronavirus aid freeze
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