Azar added that the government has been working for years to prepare for a pandemic.
"We knew about SARS, we knew about MERS, which were earlier modifications of the coronavirus, none of those achieved anything like what we are seeing today," Azar told Acosta at the briefing, "but that is why four successive presidencies, including the leadership of President Trump, there has been a great focus on pandemic preparedness."
A national security presidential memorandum ordered in September 2018 placed the HHS secretary in charge of coordinating the National Biodefense Strategy across the administration, including the White House's National Security Council. At the end of January 2020, the White House created the coronavirus task force to be led by HHS Secretary Azar. Nearly a month later, the President appointed Vice President Mike Pence to become the new leader of the task force.
Updated 7:46 PM EDT, Fri April 03, 2020
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