On Thursday morning, health experts are testifying before the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee concerning the 2019 novel coronavirus, the whole issue of viral outbreaks in general, and dealing with epidemics. From the beginning, the range of topics expanded quickly beyond the immediate threat of coronavirus to understanding how researchers develop vaccines and how epidemiologists plan for the next breakout virus, and to topics such as how viruses make the leap from animals to humans.
The session is addressing misconceptions and providing a blunt view of political misuse of data, and it is definitely worth watching.
This session is still in progress as of 10 AM ET, but whether you watch live or review it from the start, there’s a great deal of information here delivered by an interesting collection of experts in the area. Among those testifying is Dr. Peter Hotez, who has previously stated that he developed a vaccine against the coronavirus disease SARS years ago … only to have that vaccine sit in a freezer because there was no money allocated to bring it to trials; and an expert on the history of disease, Dr. Tara Kirk Sell of Johns Hopkins.
The hearing has been notable so far both for the breadth of the questions and for the seriousness of the representatives present. Even Republican Rep. Michael Cloud—the replacement for pajama-clad jackass Blake Farenthold—has asked solid questions and been willing to accept answers that blow away some of the misinformation circulating on the right. In fact, Dr. Sell has made it clear that at this stage of an outbreak, misinformation can be the most dangerous aspect of a burgeoning epidemic.