LAUSR

In March 2020, before COVID-19 laid claim to the United States, Vice President Mike Pence briefed the press about the coronavirus outbreak, which at the time was a threat to passengers aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship moored off the coast of California [1]. At the time, cases had spiked in Iran, Italy, and Spain, but the disease was still an abstraction to most Americans. When asked about a potential outbreak in Washington, D.C., Pence called on Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and a member of the U.S. Task Force, to address the question. Fauci replied that any individual who tested positive for the disease would undergo contact tracing, which he deemed “the public health weapon” for catching outbreaks before they start. Not long after, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, and the virus began spreading across the country.