A key federal health official will deliver a stark warning to lawmakers this week about the risks America faces if its response to COVID-19 are not improved.
CNN reports that Dr. Richard Bright, who was ousted last month from his position as the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, plans to testify on Thursday that America will face its “darkest winter in modern history” without further measures to improve the government’s ability to test and trace people infected with COVID-19.
“Our window of opportunity is closing,” Bright will say, as reported by CNN. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities. Without clear planning and implementation of the steps that I and other experts have outlined, 2020 will be darkest winter in modern history.”
Bright has filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that he was removed from his position because he was resisting pushing anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which has been heavily promoted by President Donald Trump, as a treatment for COVID-19.
According to CNN, Bright will tell members of the House Committee of Energy and Commerce that he “resisted efforts to promote and enable broad access to an unproven drug, chloroquine, to the American people without transparent information on the potential health risks.”