A note issued accusing the US Department of Health of failing to protect its employees

A note issued accusing the US Department of Health of failing to protect its employees





Washington Editorial team

February 28, 2020 - 01:16 PM

An official memo accused the US Department of Health and Human Services of "failing to protect its employees responsible for dealing with the outbreak of the mutated Corona Virus / Covid-19", according to the Defense Agency for one of the whistle-blowers, which was reported by the Washington Post and The New York Times, after Submit a formal complaint to the Office of the Special Adviser.

While the two newspapers identified the reporter of the violations as "a senior official in the Ministry of Health, seeking protection", the complaint stated, according to German News Agency, that "health workers who received American citizens in quarantine because of their possible infection with the Corona virus, did not They receive the right equipment or the right training. ”

The "senior official" confirms that she was transferred to another "inappropriate" job after raising fears of the virus, and Bloomberg reported that "employees of the Ministry of Health have been sent to an air base in California to help treat Americans returning from the Chinese city of Wuhan" Killer Virus Outbreak Center.

"We hope that Congress and the Office of the Special Adviser will investigate this issue in a timely and comprehensive manner ... This issue relates to the extent to which the Department of Health and Human Services deals with the Corona virus, and its failure to protect its staff, and possibly the public, must be addressed," said Ari Wilkenfield, the senior official's lawyer. Of revenge efforts to intimidate and silence our customers. ”

“The ministry evaluates the complaint, takes all whistleblower complaints about violations seriously, and we provide the complainant with all appropriate protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act,” said a spokeswoman for the Health Ministry, Caitlin Oakley, while a Trump administration official questioned - at a congressional hearing - In the idea that the workers did not get the necessary training and the necessary equipment, the Executive Director and Administration of Operational Medicine at the Department of Medical Services at the US Department of State, William Walters: «All necessary precautions have been taken .. I can unequivocally say that all those involved in the evictions These were equipped and trained appropriately ».

Tags: HEALTH