“The introduction from Europe happened before we realized what was happening,” said Redfield. “When we realized (the) threat from Europe and closed the trip to Europe, there were probably already two or three weeks of 60,000 people returning every day from Europe,” he added.
During the ABC interview, Redfield also admitted that there have been problems with the federal response.
“Yes, there have been mistakes,” he said. “And yes, we fail. We are doing the best we can and we are trying to make the best judgments we can.”
The CDC director discussed his initial response to the news that something mysterious is happening in central China.
He said he received a phone call on New Year’s Eve last year alerting him to an incident related to a respiratory condition in Wuhan and told ABC that he knew it was serious. He said he wrote the first status report on the incident the next day.
“We feel that this had the potential to be a very serious situation that had national security implications.”
The CDC was ready to dispatch a team of scientists within a week, but the Chinese government refused to let them in, Redfield said, something it said earlier and pointed to as one reason why the US began identifying the virus. dangerous. and taking action.
He also said he is optimistic that the country can take the lead in the battle against the coronavirus.
“I wish that we would now come together and recognize and see the possibility that we can overcome this pandemic,” he said.
“This virus can be defeated if people simply wear a mask.”
Jen Christensen and Devan Cole contributed to this report.
.
