page_title: Alex Azar
section_title: Outbreak
hierarchical_section_title: Alex Azar / Secretary of Health and Human Services / Coronavirus / Outbreak
caption_attribution_description: President Donald J. Trump, joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, signs the congressional funding bill for coronavirus response Friday, March 6, 2020, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
context_page_description: Alex Michael Azar II is an American politician, attorney, former pharmaceutical lobbyist, pharmaceutical executive, and current Presidential cabinet member who serves as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Azar was nominated to his post by President Donald Trump on November 13, 2017, and confirmed by the United States Senate on January 24, 2018. He was also Chairman of the White House Coronavirus Task Force from its inception in January 2020 to February 2020, when he was replaced by Vice President Mike Pence.
  Azar served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005. On July 22, 2005, he was confirmed as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services; he served in that capacity until his January 2007 resignation.
  From 2012 to 2017, Azar was President of the U.S. division of Eli Lilly and Company, a major drug company, and a member of the board of directors of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, a large pharmaceutical trade association.
context_section_description: Azar learned about the coronavirus threat on January 3, 2020.  Azar informed associates that he had alerted Trump on January 18, 2020, regarding the potential danger from COVID-19, but that the president thought he was  being "alarmist" as Azar struggled to get Trump's attention to focus on the issue. Despite Azar's warnings, four days later, Trump announced, "We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China." On January 28, 2020, Azar stated that the Trump administration had no plan to declare a public health emergency as the COVID-19 virus spread in China. He asserted that the risk to Americans was minimal, but admitted that authorities in 30 states were monitoring potential cases and added that he would not "hesitate at all to invoke any authorities I need to, to ensure we’re taking all steps to protect the American people, but I’ll do it when it’s appropriate." U.S. Senator Rick Scott and U.S. Representative Vern Buchanan, as well as other Republicans, demanded the declaration of a public health emergency as a means of budgeting necessary federal funding to deal with the potential pandemic. At the time, Azar said, there were just five confirmed cases in the U.S., there was no known person-to-person transmission, and every confirmed U.S. victim had traveled to Wuhan, China (the outbreak's place of origin). "This is potentially a very serious public health threat, but at this time Americans should not worry about their own safety," Azar said. At that point, the disease had killed at least 106 people in China, with more than 4,500 cases confirmed. On January 29, 2020, Azar told Trump that the COVID-19 epidemic was under control.
  On February 27, U.S. Representative Jimmy Gomez of California revealed that he had been contacted by a whistleblower from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who had been dispatched to deal with the arrivals of travelers exposed to the coronavirus. There were allegations made that those sent from the HHS to California quarantine sites lacked both sufficient protective clothing and the training necessary to prepare them to deal with the contagion, though they were working alongside CDC personnel who had adequate protective gear. The whistleblower also said that professionals raising concerns about the unsafe practices were subjected to retaliation. Azar responded to the issues raised by Gomez by saying, "Urgency does not compensate for violating isolation and quarantine protocols" and adding, "I'd want to know the full facts and would take appropriate remedial measures." Azar insisted that careful protocols were being observed by all CDC employees.
  On February 28, 2020, United States Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden wrote Azar to ask why employees of the HHS Administration for Children and Families were involuntarily dispatched to California to meet with quarantined travelers despite lacking expertise in the field and lacking proper information, equipment and training. Wyden also asked why said employees were not cleared to ensure that they had not become carriers of the disease before they were returned to their home stations.
  On April 25, 2020, multiple media outlets reported that the White House was weighing a plan to oust Azar due to frustrations over his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following day, President Trump tweeted that such reports were "Fake News" and that he has no plans to replace Azar.
  Azar picked Brian Harrison, a 37-year old former labradoodle breeder who had no formal education in public health or related fields, as HHS’s main coordinator for the government’s response to the coronavirus.
caption: President Trump, with Azar, signs the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act into law on 6 March 2020
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