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Texas Republicans raise concerns about federal Ebola response

Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, center, and GOP lawmakers speak to reporters after a Republican caucus meeting, at the Capitol in Washington on May 6, 2014. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

updated at 3:51 p.m. with comment from HHS.

WASHINGTON — Texas Republicans are demanding answers from the Health and Human Services Administration about how existing public resources were used to combat the Ebola outbreak.

In a letter sent Friday, Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz — joined by all 24 Texas Republicans in the U.S. House — raise concerns that new Ebola cases emerged on U.S. soil despite the department’s funding for public health crises.

According to the letter, a 2013 law gave nearly $1.4 billion to “public health preparedness and response activities,” part of it to support efforts in Dallas and other metropolitan cities.

“[I]t is especially troubling to witness the federal government’s communications missteps and confusion about protocols knowing that a wide range of federal resources have already been in place for years,” the lawmakers write.

In a statement Friday afternoon, HHS said it looks forward to responding to the letter.

“HHS values working with members of Congress on this important public health matter,” spokesman Bill Hall said.

National Ebola protocols came under scrutiny after two Dallas health care workers contracted the disease while treating an Ebola patient. The patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, died but the two nurses, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, have been declared Ebola-free.

Labeling Dallas “ground zero” for the first Ebola case, the Texas lawmakers say it’s necessary to understand how the U.S. government has applied its resources before charting a path forward.

In their letter, they tick through a number of requests to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell, including an explanation of how policies under a 2006 law are helping to contain and treat the disease.

That law created the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, a position whose responsibilities Texas lawmakers also want detailed.

Dr. Brantly joins Obama to encourage Ebola volunteers in West Africa, tamp down calls for quarantines and travel bans

Medical professionals in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea "have fought a valiant effort against this menace," Dr. Kent Brantly said, but more are "desperately needed."

Medical professionals in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea "have fought with valiant effort against this menace," Dr. Kent Brantly said, but more are "desperately needed." (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press)

updated with comments from NJ Gov. Chris Christie

WASHINGTON – Dr. Kent Brantly, the Fort Worth doctor who became the first American to contract Ebola in treating patients in West Africa, starred at a White House event meant to put a spotlight on the need for health care workers to volunteer to fight the outbreak.

The medical professionals of the three nations battling Ebola – Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea – “have fought with valiant effort against this menace,” Brantly said, introducing President Obama. “More medical professional are desperately needed.”

Obama warned that the United States “can’t hermetically seal ourselves off” from the rest of the world. He urged the public and state leaders to set aside fear — a term he invoked four times in 15 minutes, in pointed remarks aimed at displaying displeasure with state-level efforts to quarantine nurses and doctors returning from the Ebola hot zone.

“If we’re discouraging our health care workers who are prepared to make these sacrifices … then we’re not doing our job” in terms of protecting Americans, Obama asserted. “What we need right now is these shock troops who are out there leading globally. We can’t discourage that. We’ve got to encourage it and applaud it.”

Behind the scenes, the White House pressured governors in New Jersey and New York to ease policies regarding returning health care workers.

Several hundred guests filled seats in the ornate East Room of the White House.

Obama warned against reacting to fear, hysteria or misinformation. One reason the world looks to America, he said, is because of its cool- headed response to a crisis.

The president was flanked by doctors and other health workers, many in white lab coats.

Brantly’s wife, Amber, sat in the front row, and Obama joked that her husband had gained some weight since the last time he was at the White House more than a month ago, shortly after recovering from his own bout with Ebola.

“Each of you studied medicine because you wanted to save lives. The world needs you more than ever,” the president said.

The health care workers serving in Africa, Obama said, are a “shining example” to the world. And he vowed that with ongoing efforts, international efforts will “contain and ultimately snuff out this outbreak of Ebola.”

“I know that with all the headlines and all the news, that people are scared. … But the reason I’m so proud of this country is because when there are times for us to step up and do the right thing, we do the right thing,” Obama said,

With indirect language, he needled and mocked critics — including many political conservatives — who speak of “exceptionalism” but then promote policies such as travel bans and quarantines. These, he said, amount, to pretending the problem will go away.

“When I hear people talking about American leadership, and then are promoting policies that would avoid leadership and have us running in the opposite direction and hiding under the covers, it makes me a little frustrated,” he said.

In New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie, head of the Republican Governors Association and a possible 2016 White House contender, blasted Obama for issuing “lectures.”

He called it “common sense” to isolate health workers returning from working with Ebola patients in West Africa for the full 21-day incubation period.

“This is our policy. It will be our policy as long as this crisis is going on,” he told reporters. “I don’t know when the White House is going to get around to admitting that and not giving us seven-minute lectures from the South Lawn.”

And he took issue with the idea that quarantines will discourage volunteers.

“It’s part of the sacrifice. I’m sure none of these folks want to come home and get anybody else sick… Folks should understand. Part of the sacrifice is going over there and the remainder of the sacrifice is when you come home,” remaining quarantined for three weeks, Christie said.

Brantly is medical missions director for Samaritan’s Purse. He contracted Ebola while working in Liberia, and was the first person treated for Ebola in the United States. He has donated blood plasma to other patients since being cured at Emory University Hospital.

The group behind the president included doctors and others who either have worked against Ebola in West Africa or plan to travel there soon. Doctors and nurses who treated Dallas nurse Nina Pham at NIH were also on stage and in the audience, along with healthcare workers from a variety of nonprofit groups and others.

The president’s new “Ebola czar,” Ron Klain, was on hand, along with a Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health and a number of top White House aides, including homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

Ebola: White House sees NJ quarantine as deterrent for doctors and nurses to volunteer in West Africa

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is concerned that quarantining health care workers returning from stints in the Ebola zone of West Africa — as New Jersey did with nurse Kaci Hickox — will deter badly needed volunteers.

“We’re going to need doctors and nurses traveling to West Africa to treat Ebola patients,” said White House press secretary Josh Earnest.

He referred to state actions “in some cases outright disrespecting” health care workers who’ve put themselves at risk by working with Ebola patients in Africa.

“Stopping this Ebola outbreak in its tracks in West Africa is critically important… The likelihood of a widespread outbreak in this countr of Ebola is exceedingly low,” he said.

He noted that under the United States’ federal system, state and local authorities have the authority to take steps to protect the public health of their citizens. And that could lead to a patchwork of rules facing travelers – including health workers.

If anyone doesn’t like that, Earnest said, “Take that up with James Madison” — a suggestion that prompted one member of the White House press corps to note, “He’s not here.”

The sight of Hickox in an isolation tent in a parking lot next to a hospital in Newark, N.J., clearly bothered some Americans and many at the White House, Earnest said.

“What we hope… is that these kinds of policy decisions should be driven by science,” Earnest said — simultaneously working to avoid a direct condemnation of N.J. Gov. Chris Christie’s actions while also making clear the administration’s disdain. He focused on the point of agreement: the state’s decision earlier today, in coordination with CDC, to release Hickox from isolation.

“I’m not steeped in New Jersey quarantine law,” Earnest said, declining to  weigh in on whether Hickox is correct in her assertions that by being detained in a tent for three days, without any symptoms of Ebola, her rights had been violated.

Now Ebola-free, Pham gets a hug from Obama at the White House

President Obama gives a hug to Dallas nurse Nina Pham in the Oval Office on Oct. 24. (Photo by Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Hours after being declared Ebola-free, Dallas nurse Nina Pham got a hug from President Barack Obama in the Oval Office.

Pham met with Obama on Friday afternoon and is scheduled to return to Dallas later today. This morning, she was discharged from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., where she has been in isolation since Oct. 16.

“I feel fortunate and blessed to be standing here today,” Pham told reporters at NIH, flanked by her sister and mother.

Pham walks alongside Anthony Fauci of the NIH at the White House. (Kimberly Railey/The Dallas Morning News)

Her sister, Catherine, and mother, Diana, joined her at the White House. They sat next to Pham on a couch in the Oval Office, across from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH.

Also present were Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Pham’s primary doctor Dr. Richard Davey Jr., and Dr. Cliff Lane of the NIH.

Pham beamed when Obama hugged her, as photojournalists captured the moment.

Afterward, Pham was smiling and appeared in good spirits. The 26-year-old was the first American nurse to contract Ebola on U.S. soil.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said no special precautions were needed or taken, because her doctors had given her a “clean bill of health.”

Congress questions Ebola response

Witnesses are sworn in before testifying on the Ebola outbreak today before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Update 12:45

The hearing has concluded.

Issa closed by emphasizing the need to fight Ebola in West Africa.

“There is no way that every American is going to place themselves in a hazmat suit from morning until night. We will have to go to the source,” he said. “This disease will not be eradicated if we wait until it comes to our shore.

Update 12:30:

Mica called for Lurie’s resignation, citing a lack of “preparedness” on the part of agencies responsible for responding to the Ebola outbreak.

“Somebody needs to see that we are prepared,” Mica said. “You told me that you’re responsible for preparedness.”

Mica pointed out an internal report by the DHS which said that the agency was unprepared to deal with pandemics. The report said that poor auditing practice had left the agency without a true sense of its ability to respond to emergencies.

Lurie, who works for the Department of Health and Human Services, said that she has doesn’t authority over DHS practices and policies.

Update 12:15:

After Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) beat the drum for a travel ban, Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) offered another solution: quarantine anyone coming from West Africa.

“People need to be quarantined coming out of those countries. You don’t need a travel ban, you need to go to the people who pose a risk,” Mica said.

On Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security announced new screening standards for anyone coming from West Africa. Those passengers will now be routed through one of five major airports for additional screening, and they will be monitored for 21 days after their arrival.

Mica said the fact that that Spencer made it through the additional screening and was later diagnosed with Ebola shows that the new measures are not working.

“The testing at the airport is not working. We need a quarantine in place,” he said.

But a quarantine could make it even more difficult to recruit healthcare workers to West Africa, according to Rabih Torbay, senior vice president of International Medical Corps.

Torbay said that his organization is already struggling to get doctors and nurses to come to West Africa. Adding an additional three-week quarantine to their period of service would make it even harder.

Update 11:40:

Houston Republican Blake Farenthold, the lone Texan on the committee, questioned whether building hospitals for Ebola patients was a job for the U.S. military.

“Traditionally, the military’s job has been to protect this country with guns and bombs,” Farenthold said. “Is this really what the military was designed for?”

Farenthold said that the task seemed more appropriate for a group like the Peace Corps, or a private contractor.

Update 11:30:

It took nearly three hours, but travel restrictions for people coming from West Africa have been discussed.

“I don’t understand why we don’t put a travel restriction in place,” said Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).

Chaffetz also called for anyone who has been to West Africa to be isolated for 21 days before coming to America — the maximum incubation period for the Ebola virus.

Matthew Duckworth, a Pennsylvania Democrat, supported Chaffetz’s idea.

Troops in West Africa will be monitored for symptoms of Ebola for 10 days before they return to the U.S. Once they return stateside, they will be checked for symptoms twice a day on base for 21 days, but will be allowed to go about their normal schedules otherwise.

Duckworth asked Major General James Lariviere, the DOD deputy director for political-military affairs in Africa, why the troops couldn’t be monitored for 21 days in West Africa.

“Why couldn’t you be a little more careful with the plan, a little more overboard with the protection and extend the in-country waiting period to 21 days?” he asked.

Lariviere said that the DOD’s plan follows protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Protection.

Update 11:10:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) railed against President Obama’s appointment of Klain, arguing that the job should have gone to someone with a medical background instead of an attorney and political operative.

“Why in the hell did the president pick a lawyer to be the Ebola czar?” he asked Lurie.

Gowdy said that Lurie, given her record as a health professional, would have been better suited for the post than Klain. Lurie steadfastly supported Obama’s choice.

“I have a lot of confidence in Mr. Klain,” she said. “There are a tremendous number of doctors that he has it his disposal.

Gowdy didn’t buy it.

“Color me cynical, it just appears political,” he said. “The next time there’s an opening on the Supreme Court, I want you to see whether the president considers a doctor or a dentist for that job.”

Update 10:40:

Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio peppered Lurie with questions about the NIH budget. The NIH is a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Jordan cited NIH expenses that he saw as frivolous, including:

  • $374,000 on “fruit and vegetable puppet shows”
  • $53,000 for a study on sighs
  • $2 million to encourage elderly people to join choirs
“Couldn’t that have been used for something like Ebola and a potential vaccine?” Jordan asked.
Lurie said that the NIH is currently supporting studies on two vaccines, but added that the “development of vaccine is a long and complicated process.”
Jordan questioned whether those vaccines might be further along had the NIH not spent money on programs like nutrition-themed puppet shows.
“I don’t believe that would be the case,” Lurie responded.

Update 10:10 a.m.:

Rep. John Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat, just read that Pham had been declared “Ebola-free,” by the National Institutes of Health. Later today, she will be released by the NIH facility in Bethesda, Maryland, where she was being treated. The NIH will hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. CT today to discuss the news.

Original post:

WASHINGTON — The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) met this morning for a hearing on the federal government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the U.S.

In his opening statement, Issa said that even though the U.S. has the resources to prevent the spread of Ebola, they haven’t been properly deployed.

“I think we all know that the system is not yet refined to where we could say it is working properly,” he said.

Issa also criticized President Obama for appointing Ron Klain as the Ebola response coordinator, or so-called “Ebola czar.” Issa said that Klain doesn’t have the credentials for the job.

“In my opinion it shows that this administration has on one hand recognized the missteps, and on the other hand is not prepared to put a known leader in charge, or in fact a medical professional in charge,” Issa said.

In West Africa, nearly 5,000 people have died from Ebola during the current outbreak, according to the World Health Organization. Four people have contracted the disease in the U.S.

The most recent U.S. Ebola case was discovered yesterday in New York City when Craig Spencer, a 33-year-old doctor who had treated Ebola patients in Guinea, was diagnosed with the disease.

Witnesses at the hearing emphasized the need to contain the disease in West Africa in order to stop it from spreading around the world.

“We are extremely serious in our focus on protecting America’s health security. The best way to do that is to support the response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Department of Defense will send 3,200 troops to West Africa in the next few days to build Ebola treatment centers. The contingent will include 500 troops from Fort Bliss in El Paso.

Rep. Michael Turner, an Ohio Democrat, said he was “very skeptical” of the DOD protocols to prevent troops from contracting Ebola in West Africa.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Lumpkin told Turner that there’s little risk of troops in West Africa catching the virus. He said that the mission will focus on fixing logistical problems, not treating patients.

“Direct patient care of Ebola-exposed patients in West Africa is not a part of the DOD mission,” Lumpkin said. “There is no higher operational priority than protecting our Department of Defense personnel.”

Deborah Burger, co-president of nurses’ union National Nurses United, blasted Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas for its procedures in treating Liberian Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan. Two of the nurses who treated Duncan, Nina Pham and Amber Vinson, contracted Ebola.

“This is what happens when guidelines are inefficient,” Burger said.

The union was well-represented at the hearing, its members wearing red stickers reading “I am Nina Pham.”

Burger called for an executive order or congressional action to bolster equipment and training standards for frontline healthcare workers. She cited a nationwide survey of over 300,000 nurses, 85 percent of whom said that they were “not adequately trained” to treat Ebola patients.

Health officials: State needs greater coordination, communication in dealing with infectious diseases

AUSTIN— Key medical officials are dissatisfied with the communication, guidance and level of coordination between local hospital authorities, state health officials and the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Brett Girior, director of the Texas Task Force on Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response

There needs to be a better management at the state level and a clear resource for training, health protocols and disseminating information, as well as greater flexibility in how state and federal money can be allocated, a panel of doctors, researchers and medical administrators told the state’s task force on infectious disease preparedness.

The 17-member task force said Thursday that it is considering changes that would expand the authority of the commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services and increase standardized protocol training.

But many of their proposals require action from the Legislature, which doesn’t meet again until January.

Noticeably absent from the panel providing recommendations was a representative from Presbyterian—the only hospital in the state that has dealt with an Ebola patient.

Infectious disease task force to hold first public meeting Thursday

UPDATED 10:40: A six-member panel on hospital preparedness suggested to the task force centralized training protocols for healthcare workers; a command center for sharing information with the public; and better coordination between local, state and federal officials.

Experts’ views varied most on extended treatment of patients and specialized infectious disease centers.

Joseph McCormick, dean of UT School of Public Health in Brownsville, said “broad training” is needed at community hospitals across the state to be prepared for the extended care of infectious disease patients.

“These kinds of events are not going to go away. We can’t chose where these patients are going to be” and the condition the patient will be in when they arrive at the hospital, McCormick said.

Each hospital should have a small, very well-trained staff to deal with the arrival of a new infectious diseases, he said, and be prepared to have that patient for an extended period of time if the patient is too sick to transport.

Alexander Eastman, interim medical director at UT Southwestern and Parkland Memorial Hospital, said its important to have regional specialized centers for extended treatment of such patients because of the “disruption” having even just one patient causes at community hospitals.

When the first Ebola patient arrived at Presbyterian, other hospitals “felt a disruption” because they had increased traffic in their ER rooms, he said. Having a center where infectious disease patients would be sent would help avoid those disruptions, he said.

Experts found consensus on the need for a coordinated “command system” to manage communication and public information about the presence of a new disease. That included ideas for how to maintain accurate updates through social media and other forms to avoid public fear.

William Sutker, chief of infectious disease at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, called for better coordination between federal, state and local officials.

“CDC response and guidance has been slow,” he said.

There needs to be an improved method for expediently connecting authorities and shares information between federal, state and local levels would be beneficial, he said.

The infectious disease task force has already initiated the creation of two designated Ebola centers and reiterated Thursday their support for the specialized centers.

Original: AUSTIN— The state’s infectious disease task force meets for the first time in public Thursday at the Capitol to continue discussing its recommendations for how the state should deal with infectious diseases.

Brett Giroir at Oct. 6 task force announcement

Among the topics up for discussion are how waste should be handled, the protective gear needed for healthcare workers, hospital preparedness and innovations in quickly identifying contagious diseases.

Recommendations from the task force could be used to create state protocols to have in place when a infectious disease is identified.

Gov. Rick Perry announced the formation of the task force about a week following the first diagnosis of Ebola on American soil.  Dr. Brett Giroir, CEO for the Texas A&M Health Science Center, serves as the director.

So far, the task force has recommended designating two state hospitals as Ebola centers; establishing specialized patient transport teams; increasing healthcare worker training in infectious disease protocols; having more testing labs; and granting the Department of State Health Services chief the authority to issue Enforceable Control Orders.

Perry announced yesterday that UT Southwestern Medical Center and UT Medical Branch in Galveston will be designated treatment centers for Ebola.

The task force and the invited panels do not include a representative from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, the only facility in the state that has received Ebola patients.

Updates will be posted to this blog. Hearing begins at 9 a.m.

Ebola: President Obama speaks with Dallas healthcare workers

Cole Edmonson, chief nursing officer at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, speaks to President Obama, who called from The White House to offer words of encouragement and support to a team of caregivers today. (photo courtesy Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama today spoke with several “frontline healthcare workers” at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, including some who cared for Ebola patients.

“The President thanked the healthcare workers for their unflagging dedication and for their tireless efforts to treat these patients despite the difficult conditions,” according to a White House aide. “More broadly, he also noted that our nation’s doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and other healthcare staff work long hours under stressful conditions, and are absolutely indispensable.”

Two nurses from Presbyterian Hospital are being treated for Ebola, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Both had treated Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian who died of Ebola on Oct. 8.

Seen through the window of the Oval Office, President Obama gets an update on Ebola in Dallas from Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on Oct. 12. (AP/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The president will meet later this afternoon with his new Ebola “czar,” Ron Klain. But meanwhile, he wanted to reach out to Dallas healthcare workers.

“He offered his personal thanks to this group on behalf of a grateful nation,” the aide said.

Obama sends White House aide to Dallas to coordinate Ebola response

White House aide Adrian Saenz

WASHINGTON –The president is dispatching a top aide to Dallas to coordinate Ebola response.

Adrian Saenz, a seasoned political operative from Texas who has worked in Congress and, for the last 13 months, at the White House will serve as the administration’s Dallas-based liaison.

“Saenz will be on the ground in Dallas and in close coordination with senior White House officials involved in the Ebola response, including Ron Klain, the Ebola Response Coordinator,” a White House aide said.

The deployment helps to “fulfill the president’s pledge that state and local authorities are able to call upon any and all necessary federal resources,” he added.

Saenz joined the White House staff in September 2013 as deputy director of Intergovernmental Affairs, leading a team that works with state and local officials. In the 2012 Obama campaign he served as National Latino Vote Director. He was Texas state director for the Obama campaign during the 2008 primary. In 2006 he was national field director for the Democrats’ U.S. House campaign arm. He was a top immigration strategist at Organizing for America, the group that evolved from the Obama campaign apparatus, before joining the administration.

In Congress, he served as chief of staff to then-Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, and in other roles.

In other measures, the White House also is naming a Texas coordinator for Ebola response “to ensure we adequately leverage appropriate state-level assets.” Gov Rick Perry has selected W. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Assistant Director, Texas Department of Public Safety, for that post.

The president also has named a FEMA coordinator, Kevin Hannes, to work with Kidd and ensure adequate federal assistance in Dallas. Hannes currently oversees FEMA operations in North Texas.

Dim views from Texas on Obama’s Ebola czar

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s decision today to name a so-called “Ebola czar” to oversee the federal response is drawing scathing reviews from many Texas Republicans — and some praise.

House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Austin, called it “an important and necessary step to name an Ebola coordinator.” But he said, Ron Klain — a former chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, a job he also held under Vice President Al Gore — isn’t the right person.

McCaul noted that previous administrations had special advisers on biodefense policy with solid scientific and medical backgrounds. “While the president’s pick may have the ear of the White House and experience from the campaign trail, I am concerned he doesn’t have significant relationships in the medical community that are imperative during this current biological emergency,” McCaul said.

Sen. Ted Cruz blasted the choice entirely.

“We don’t need another so-called ‘czar,’ ” he said in statement. “We need presidential leadership. This is a public health crisis, and the answer isn’t another White House political operative. The answer is a commander in chief who stands up and leads, banning flights from Ebola-afflicted nations and acting decisively to secure our southern border.”

There is no evidence that Ebola has entered the United States through Mexico.

Cruz called for an emergency session of Congress to enact a flight ban.

House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., echoed McCaul’s view. He wasn’t impressed by a czar without a medical background.

“What has been missing from this administration’s response to Ebola is not a new figurehead; what we need is a strategy to get ahead of this, and restore the public’s faith that they are safe,” he said.