Coronavirus: US health workers without protective gear may have been exposed to virus, says whistleblower

News comes day after Donald Trump played down threat

US health workers without proper protective gear may have been exposed to the coronavirus when meeting evacuees, a whistleblower has alleged.

Officials at the department of health and human services (HHS) sent at least a dozen workers to receive the first Americans evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan, without providing them with adequate training or equipment, the formal complaint said.

It says the staff members were sent to Travis Air Force Base and March Air Reserve Base, both located in California, and told to ordered to enter quarantined areas where coronavirus evacuees were being received.

The complaint, whose existence was first revealed by the Washington Post and the New York Times, alleged, some of the exposed staff members moved freely the bases, with at least one person staying in a nearby hotel.

“I soon began to field panicked calls from my leadership team and deployed staff members expressing concerns with the lack of H.H.S. communication and coordination, staff being sent into quarantined areas without personal protective equipment, training or experience in managing public health emergencies, safety protocols and the potential danger to both themselves and members of the public they come into contact with,” the whistleblower wrote.

The Post said the woman was now seeking federal protection because she alleged she was unfairly and reassigned after raising concerns about the safety of these workers to HHS officials, including those within the office of health and human services secretary Alex Azar.

She was told on February 19 if she did not accept the new position in 15 days, she would be terminated, it said.

Reports said the workers did not show symptoms of infection and were not tested for the virus.

In a statement, HHS spokesperson Caitlin Oakley, 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.”

The existence of the complaint a day after Donald Trump played down the threat posed by the disease and disagreed with his own health experts who have warned it was inevitable that coronavirus would spread within the US.

“I don’t think it’s inevitable. I don’t think think it’s inevitable because we’re doing a really job at the borders and checking people coming in,” he said.

“I think there is a chance there could a substantial increase. But nothing is inevitable.”

Meanwhile, in California governor Gavin Newsom said more than 8,000 people in the state were being monitored for coronavirus infections.

There are have been 33 confirmed cases of the flu-like respiratory illness in the state, including what is likely the first confirmed infection in a patient who was infected through “community spread” and didn’t come into direct contact with another patient.