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San Francisco Mayor London Breed publicly slammed the Trump administration Tuesday for its failure of leadership with regard to the growing coronavirus pandemic.

In a letter obtained by the Chronicle and addressed to Vice President Mike Pence whom President Trump hastily assigned to take charge of the crisis last week Breed said that coordination between the CDC, the White House, and the Department of Health and Human Services was sorely lacking, and that the administration's overall response was "anemic" and "deficient" as the outbreak of the disease continues to worsen nationwide, but most urgently on the West Coast.

"The lack of test kits is a national disgrace," Breed wrote, referring to the fact that San Francisco currently only has 250 kits on hand from the CDC. "We will not be able to contain, treat, or mitigate the effects of the virus if we cannot diagnose infection." On Monday, the city announced it was opening its own public testing facility for the coronavirus in order to decrease the turnaround time for tests from seven days to one or two.

"Leadership at the federal level is imperative," Breed wrote to Pence. "We cannot wait as the window to take action to reduce community infections is closing."

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We just concluded another public update about the steps that we're taking in San Francisco to prepare for the potential spread of novel coronavirus. @SFDPH began local testing today and will be operating tests 7 days a week, shortening the turnaround time for results. The SFDPH lab will conduct the tests locally based on expanded criteria from the CDC. It is important for the public to understand that there is no on-demand testing and test kits are limited. Testing will be done only after consultation between local health officials and the CDC. We're focused on protecting our vulnerable populations, including older adults and people with multiple chronic medical conditions. We're working with providers to ensure staff and residents are educated on prevention measures and able to rapidly identify and isolate affected patients. Additionally, we continue to reach out to patients in the Citys Health Network with chronic disease or complex health needs to ensure they have their medical needs met for the next 90 days, in order to help them avoid the medical system except in cases of urgent need. We continue to expand emergency staffing support. Beginning this week, SF will activate more than 50 additional Disaster Service Workers, in addition to the more than two dozen who were activated last week. The Emergency Operations Center has developed and disseminated health & preparedness information in English, Chinese, Spanish and Filipino. In addition to these efforts, outreach staff have participated in more than 30 outreach events throughout San Francisco since late January. The best ways to reduce the risk of getting sick and prevent spread: -Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; -Cover your cough or sneeze; -Stay home if you are sick; -Get your flu shot to protect against flu or symptoms similar to novel coronavirus. You can prepare for possible disruption from an outbreak: -Have a supply of essential medications for your family; -Make a child care plan if you or a caregiver are sick; -Plan for how to manage a school closure; -Plan for how to care for a sick family member w/out getting sick yourself. For more information visit SF72.org.

A post shared by London Breed (@londonbreed) on Mar 2, 2020 at 2:29pm PST

Breed's letter went out just as the number of U.S. deaths from covid-19 rose to 9 in Washington State. Also, the California Department of Public Health announced that the number of people in CA who are self-quarantining at home after returning from China in the month of February has risen to 9,215.

Photo: LondonBreed/Instagram

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London Breed Issues Letter to Mike Pence Calling Administration Response to Virus 'Anemic' - SFist

(WASHINGTON) Two people who attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington earlier this week have tested positive for the coronavirus, the group tweeted Friday. Thousands of people attended the policy conference, including some members of Congress and administration officials. Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo were among the speakers.

We have confirmed that at least two Policy Conference attendees from New York have tested positive for the coronavirus, AIPAC tweeted. They would be the first infections linked to the nations capital.

Read more: Doomed from the Start. Experts Say the Trump Administrations Coronavirus Response Was Never Going to Work

AIPAC is a major pro-Israel lobbying group.

Asked about the disclosure at a White House briefing, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said health officials will be interviewing the individuals to see whom they may have had contact with, and try to determine who may have been exposed.

AIPAC said in its tweet that it is in contact with health officials in Westchester County, New York, and Washington. It urged attendees to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines and to consult with their doctors if they feel ill or have medical questions.

If you test positive for coronavirus, we urge you to inform your local health authorities so they can properly coordinate their response to this situation with the appropriate health authorities, AIPAC said.

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Contact us at editors@time.com.

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2 Attendees at AIPAC Conference in Washington D.C. Test Positive for Coronavirus - TIME

Vice President Mike Pence promised on Wednesday that roughly 1.5 million tests for the 2019 novel coronavirus would be available this week. However, an investigation by The Atlantic could only find evidence of fewer than 2,000 people being tested. By interviewing public health officials and surveying all local data available, the magazine could only verify that 1,895 people had been tested for the flu-like virus that has spread rapidly from Wuhan, China, and killed at least 14 Americans. About 10 percent of those tests reportedly came back positive. Many states had incomplete or no information on testing so The Atlantic said its number reflected the best available portrait of the countrys testing capacity. The net effect... is that the countrys true capacity for testing has not been made clear to its residents, it added. For days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has refused to publish updated numbers of tests and positive cases, despite public anxiety and criticism from Congress.

In contrast, Italy, where 197 people have died, released updated figures on Friday that it had done 36,359 tests since the crisis began two weeks ago. The U.K. Department of Health said 20,000 people had been tested there, with 63 positive results. Australian authorities said on Wednesday theyd done 10,000 tests. The number of cases worldwide verged on 100,000 on Friday, the World Health Organization said.

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US Is Woefully Behind in Testing for Coronavirus: Report - The Daily Beast

Although health authorities in numerous countries have now cautioned against shaking hands in an effort to rein-in the spread of coronavirus, some world leaders are refusing to lead by example.

Perhaps most notable are Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, who have both stated their intention to continue to manipulate other peoples grasping organs in greeting.

The British prime minister said he would continue to shake hands with people despite the outbreak of coronavirus, and on Thursday TV presenter Philip Schofield said he was unable to avoid shaking Mr Johnsons hand before his appearance on the programme This Morning.

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Mr Trump meanwhile a man already famous for numerous awkward handshakes has admitted he is not comfortable with shaking hands, but said hes going to keep doing it anyway.

The same cannot be said for Vice President Mike Pence the man who Mr Trump has appointed to lead the US response to the deadly outbreak.

Arriving by aeroplane in Washington state where he met Governor Jay Inslee, Mr Pence approached Mr Inslee, who instead of extending his hand, presented his elbow to the vice president, who then reciprocated, and the two men gently bumped the corners of their arms together.

Mr Pence has admitted the US is underprepared for the virus, and currently lacks enough testing equipment.

On Thursday he said the Trump administration would not be able to deliver the one million testing kits this week, as had been planned.

There are now almost 100,000 cases of coronavirus confirmed globally.

The World Health Organisations director of pandemic disease, Dr Sylvie Brand, has endorsed other methods of greeting, including waving, the Pence-style elbow bump, and the Thai Wai pressing your hands together and bowing the head.

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Mr Trump said during an interview on Fox News he was not thrilled about still going aroundshaking hands, but said: You cant be a politician and not shake hands.

Attempting to explain his rationale, he added: If there was ever a time that you could convince people not to shake hands, this would be it.

I love the people of this country, and you cant be a politician and not shake hands. And Ill be shaking hands with people. [If] they want to say hello and hug you and kiss you, I dont care.

There are now at least 226 cases of the coronavirus in the United States, and at least 70 of them are in the Seattle area. At least 11 people have died.

According to new World Health Organization statistics released on Thursday, the mortality rate for the virus is 3.4 per cent significantly higher than previous figures indicated.

Mr Trump said the rate was a false number.

This is just my hunch, the president said in a live phone interview on Fox News. Mr Trump then guessed at the coronavirus death rate apparently pulling a figure out of thin air.

I think that that number is very high. I think the number, personally, I would say the number is way under 1 per cent, he told host Sean Hannity.

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In Britain, Boris Johnson said on Wednesday he wasnt about to stop shaking hands because of the deadly virus.

When asked how he was planning to greet visiting dignitaries, Mr Johnson replied: Im shaking hands.

To the incredulity of many, he added: I was at a hospital the other night where I think a few there were actually coronavirus patients and I shook hands with everybody, youll be pleased to know, and I continue to shake hands.

In the UK, people have been advised to wash their hands. Asked about hand shaking, the health secretary, Matt Hancock, told the Radio 4 Today programme this week: The overriding scientific evidence is that shaking hands has minimal impact, it is not a significant thing, and therefore, so long as you wash your hands after youve shaken hands, and wash your hands more often, then thats fine.

However, the Premier League has banned football players from the usual pre-match fair play handshakes as a measure to help stop the spread of the virus.

Other countries where traditional greetings are being advised against include France, where health minister Olivier Vran has said people shouldconsider cutting back on hugs and kisses, and Italy, where the countrys special commissioner for coronavirus, Angelo Borrelli, has said to help prevent the spread of the virus, people should rein-in the friendly double kiss, and be a bit less expansive.

In China, enormous red billboards are urging people to clasp their own two hands together, instead of shaking hands.

In Australia, New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard has suggested people slap each other on the back instead of shaking hands.

And in Iran, a viral video shows people tapping their feet together with one another as a means of forgoing the usual handshake.

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Mike Pence greets governor with coronavirus handshake amid backlash over lack of testing kits in US - The Independent

Many Americans, perhaps most, appear to view the president as a public intellectual or shock-jock media personality. Voters increasingly pledge their loyalty to a candidate who not only articulates what they want to hear, but does so in the way they want to hear it. One problem with this reduction of the presidency one among many is that it eliminates nearly everything that the federal government does from political consideration.

Donald Trump gains support from his congregants, rather than loses it, when he excels in the only role that he is capable of performing a weird combination of dive-bar drunkard, unable to filter the stream of pollutants that move through his mind and outhis mouth, and Fox News talking head. Aformer reality television star and a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, Trump representsthe culmination of "infotainment," the process that has draggedpolitics from the Lincoln-Douglas debates down to relentless name-calling, bloviation and lies.

It turns out that the work of politics is actuallyboring. Talented writerslike Aaron Sorkin or David Mamet can make a fictionalized version of drafting legislation or managing public agencies seem exhilarating oramusing, but ensuring that the Department of the Interior competently oversees the managementof public land is not likely to translate into a hit showon any cable network or streaming platform.

There is nothing like a potential pandemic to remind an easily distractedelectorate that governance matters. As the coronavirus spreads, the death count risesand people all over the world begin to fear infection, the incoherent and dangerous reaction of the Trump administration offers a high-stakes indictment. This is what happens when you elect someone to run the federal government who has noprerequisite knowledge, experienceor ability forpublic policy and administration.

The Obama administration opened 49 overseas offices of the Centers for Disease Control, designed to proactively prevent viruses from reaching pandemic proportions. Over the objections of medical experts within his own administration, our current president has shut down 39 of them. One of these satellite CDC offices was in China.

For the past two years, Trump's budget proposal has included reductions to the CDC and the National Institute of Health. If we want proof that elections have implications on the actual work of government on not merely who is able to give inspiring or outrageous speeches with a title in front of his or her name the House Democratic majority prevented those cuts from going into effect.

Congress could not, however, prevent Trump from neglecting the fundamental responsibilities of his position. In 2018, the director of the National Security Council's global pandemic prevention effort resigned, and his entire staff subsequently did likewise. Trump has not replaced them, creating massive vulnerabilities in the U.S. response to thecoronavirus outbreak.

Concerned citizens can relax, though, because Trump has appointed Vice President Mike Pence as the "coronavirus czar." Pence's previous high-water mark in public health was denying, and then delaying, the implementation of clean needle exchange programs when he wasgovernor of Indiana a display of evangelical moralism that experts agree was partly responsible for the increase of HIV infection rates in the state.

The world's wealthiest nation is struggling to disperse testing kits, and running dangerously low on face masks for hospitals and clinics. Meanwhile, the CDC, undermined by Trump, is failing to update testing standards and recommendations as the disease spreads more widely and the death rate rises.

It is not merely Trump's ignorance and imbecility that creates a country unprepared and ill equipped to deal with a health problem, but the entire ideology that underwrites his incompetence.

For decades, conservatives have told the public that, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "Government is not the solution to the problem. It is the problem." One of the most catastrophic actions of the Trump administration has been the empowerment of thisright-wing, antisocial mindset a pathological pursuit that Steve Bannon, Trump's former campaign chief and White House strategist,was honest enough to telegraph. He boasted shortly after Trump's inauguration that item No. 1 on Team Trump'sagenda was the "deconstruction of the administrative state."

The dismantling of government institutions and agencies extends even beyond the undoing of every possible aspect of theObama administration. Trump also killed off Predict,a program from the George W. Bush era that monitored the threat of animal-born diseases to humans.

As cable newsfollows Trump's every tweet and crude utterance like a child watching a bouncing ball, Michael Lewis reports in his outstanding book"The Fifth Risk" that the Trump administration is deliberately understaffing important governmental agencies, or appointing ideological dolts who despise those very agencies to run them. Betsy DeVos, who would not be qualified toapply for a teaching position inelementary school, is the secretary of education. Trump's director of the Environmental Protection Agency is an MBAwith years of experience working as a lobbyist for the coal and fossil fuel industries.

An avalanche of right wing propaganda, along withthe Democratic Party's failure to offer a persuasive counterargument, has allowed too many Americans to believe that government is an abstract entity a scare term that signifies a bunch of elitist bureaucrats who collect handsome salaries on the taxpayer's dime to push papers aroundand interfere with the freedomsof "real Americans."

Government employees are citizens from every state and every background, more often than not doing the important work of keeping the country safe, efficient, and functional. That allsounds pretty pedestrian and boring, but when a pandemic threatens to affect the lives of literally everyone in the country, it quickly becomes urgent.

"I can do the job" is not a thrilling political slogan, but it was a major part of Hillary Clinton's argument for the presidency in 2016. She lost, to a candidate who manifestlycannot do the job. Americans can only hope we will breathe a sigh of relief, from beneath our respiratormasks, if the same thingdoesn't happen again this year.

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The right wanted to destroy the "administrative state": Coronavirus is why we need it - Salon