Whistleblower Alleges Serious Issues With Handling of Quarantined Patients

According to the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, and Washington Post, an official with the Health and Human Services department has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging HHS sent workers to receive Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, without proper training or protective gear.

The whistleblower claims she was unfairly reassigned after raising these issues with HHS officials. According to her lawyers, she has extensive experience in the field and received awards from HHS Secretary Alex Azar last year.

The complaint alleges the HHS staffers were "improperly deployed" and were "not properly trained or equipped to operate in a public health emergency situation." Because of this, the workers were potentially exposed to the virus. The complaint goes on to say that "appropriate steps were not taken to quarantine, monitor, or test [the workers] during their deployment and upon their return home."

Some of the personnel were stationed at an air force base in Solano County, California, the location of the first patient confirmed to be infected with coronavirus who didn't travel to an area where it's spreading or have known contact with someone who has tested positive for the disease.

Lawyers for the whistleblower also state that after concluding their work on the base, the workers returned home, with some taking commercial airline flights around the country.

In response to the complaint, an HHS spokeswoman said, "We take all whistleblower complaints very seriously and are providing the complainant all appropriate protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act. We are evaluating the complaint and have nothing further to add at this time."

Photo courtesy of Getty Images.


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