Speaker 1: It's Thursday, April nine. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily
Speaker 1: Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is your daily
Speaker 1: coronavirus update. The US is eyeing a second coronavirus outbreak
Speaker 1: in China. In the past few days, officials have noted
Speaker 1: an emergence of new cases, particularly in asymptomatic and presymptomatic individuals.
Speaker 1: The administration is closely monitoring how China handles this next
Speaker 1: wave to better understand what we could expect later this year,
Speaker 1: when we too could possibly see a second outbreak. Aaron Banko,
Speaker 1: national security reporter at The Daily Beast, joins us for
Speaker 1: how we're keeping an eye on China. Thanks for joinings, Saren.
Speaker 1: You know, since this whole outbreak began, all eyes have
Speaker 1: been on China. That is where the outbreak first began
Speaker 1: in Wuhan, China. We've been looking at them for numbers
Speaker 1: as far as confirmed cases and death toll. We've been
Speaker 1: looking at them as far as how they reacted to
Speaker 1: all this, what they did, how they shut Wuhan down.
Speaker 1: And the eyes continue there because they're the first ones
Speaker 1: that went through this and right now the Trump administration
Speaker 1: is looking at them to see if a second coronavirus
Speaker 1: outbreak could be coming, and this one is centering more
Speaker 1: around people that are asymptomatic. They're fearing that arise in
Speaker 1: asymptomatic cases could trigger a second outbreak very soon or
Speaker 1: maybe later in the year. Aaron tell us a little
Speaker 1: bit about this. So at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: from the officials we've been speaking to, it is still
Speaker 1: all not clear to this day the exact amount of
Speaker 1: people in China who have contracted the coronavirus, and we're
Speaker 1: still not sure how many people have done. Basically, what
Speaker 1: officials in the US are telling us is we can't
Speaker 1: really trust the data that's coming out of China at
Speaker 1: this moment in time. So this sort of serves up
Speaker 1: all kinds of issues and problems through the Trump administration
Speaker 1: when they're trying to learn not only about how the
Speaker 1: first outbreak happened and how China handled that initial sort
Speaker 1: of round of patients and yes, but also what it
Speaker 1: means going forward. What we've seen in China is small
Speaker 1: pool of people test positive for the coronavirus recently within
Speaker 1: the past week, and these individuals are many of them
Speaker 1: asymptomatic or pre symptomatic, and this is the sort of
Speaker 1: first indication that we're getting that there's this second wave
Speaker 1: of coronavirus cases that China may be experiencing over the
Speaker 1: next couple of weeks. And what the Trumpet administration is
Speaker 1: really trying to do is figure out how this new
Speaker 1: outbreak started and really get on the ground intel on
Speaker 1: exactly how many people have tested positive over the past
Speaker 1: few days and how the Chinese government is handling this all. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and the concerns are there. We ourselves in the United
Speaker 1: States could possibly expect another round later this year. That's
Speaker 1: why Dr Anthony Fauci said this could be a seasonal thing.
Speaker 1: It can maybe taper off in the summer months and
Speaker 1: then come back again when cold and flu season starts
Speaker 1: all over again. Whether it's a mutated version of COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen or the same exact thing, it could still have
Speaker 1: its re emergence. And there's always been this thing about
Speaker 1: people that are asymptomatic or pre symptomatic. That's the trickiest part.
Speaker 1: People can be shedding the virus and other people can
Speaker 1: get affected and not know it because the others aren't
Speaker 1: showing those symptoms. So what's happening is the trump administration
Speaker 1: is leaning on the State Department for a lot of
Speaker 1: this stuff to keep an eye out for the second wave.
Speaker 1: The Trump administration is looking at a couple of different
Speaker 1: agencies to try to gather as much information as possible
Speaker 1: on the ground from the Chinese settlement about this new
Speaker 1: small outbreak. But the State Department has really been leaving
Speaker 1: the effort and not only trying to figure out from
Speaker 1: the consulate and embassies and representatives on the ground in
Speaker 1: China just how many people have contracted the virus over
Speaker 1: the last week, but also how the Chinese government may
Speaker 1: or may not be spinning that kind of information. You know,
Speaker 1: we've had problems trying to reliable data out of China
Speaker 1: for quite some time now on the coronavirus, and so
Speaker 1: they're kind of really get ahead of the game on
Speaker 1: this second wave and trying to dispel any sort of
Speaker 1: inaccurate information or talking point set up here in news
Speaker 1: reports or elsewhere, and trying to sort of camper down
Speaker 1: on that and track it all and make sure that
Speaker 1: the US has a very clear understanding of what the
Speaker 1: actual data is, yes, but also how it's being distorted,
Speaker 1: if at all. And so the State Department is really
Speaker 1: relying on its partners across the world to help them,
Speaker 1: and of course officials who are working in the department
Speaker 1: across the world as well. It was really a team
Speaker 1: effort within the State Department. Now we also know that
Speaker 1: officials in the intelligence community are taking a really close
Speaker 1: look at this. But it's like you said, it's very
Speaker 1: important for the US scientists and academics to really try
Speaker 1: to understand what led to this second wave in China
Speaker 1: and how to mitigate that here in the United States
Speaker 1: as the months before, the last thing the US wants
Speaker 1: to do is to put out guidance that says, all right,
Speaker 1: we're all good, everybody go back to work, and then
Speaker 1: we see this new second wave sooner than maybe we
Speaker 1: would have anticipated in first place. So I think it's
Speaker 1: really trying to understand how to aid our own policies
Speaker 1: and guidance around the coronaveries based off of very limited
Speaker 1: data that we're getting out of China. And China just
Speaker 1: lifted the lockdown on Wuhan, so obviously people are going
Speaker 1: to be paying attention specifically there to see how they
Speaker 1: get back to normal business and everyday operating business, and
Speaker 1: obviously to see what we can translate that over back
Speaker 1: to us. The other thing that's happening as well with
Speaker 1: China is that some of the equipment that we're getting
Speaker 1: from there, and other countries have been getting there, there's
Speaker 1: been reports of faulty equipment, I think things in Spain
Speaker 1: and the Netherlands. Britain was one of the latest countries
Speaker 1: to complain about these antibody test kits and other equipment
Speaker 1: that they were getting, saying that they were faulty. The
Speaker 1: FDA has approved the use of K and N masks
Speaker 1: were started like the N nine MASS, but these are
Speaker 1: ones that are approved by China standards. So that's just
Speaker 1: another concern is some of the equipment that we're getting
Speaker 1: from there as well. So what we know as the
Speaker 1: State Department is actually tracking some of those deliveries that
Speaker 1: have been flagged as faulty or not functioning incorrectly until
Speaker 1: What we know from some of the State Department cables
Speaker 1: that I reviewed is that China is pushing a new
Speaker 1: program whereby they will be delivering more and more supplies
Speaker 1: increasingly so, but they put sort of new standards in
Speaker 1: place to ensure that on their end the devices are
Speaker 1: working before they export them to other countries, and I
Speaker 1: will just say about the point on Wuhan. Yes, they
Speaker 1: have lifted the lockdown sort of orders and guidance, but
Speaker 1: what we do know is that local officials and Luhan
Speaker 1: are also considering testing everybody in the province to make
Speaker 1: sure that they are not testing positive for the coronavirus.
Speaker 1: Their real concern right now is asymptomatic or pre symptomatic spread,
Speaker 1: which is of course what the administration and the US
Speaker 1: scientists and academics are worried about here as well. It's
Speaker 1: hearing as though they're returning back to normal, but I
Speaker 1: think it's fair to say from the cables and officials
Speaker 1: be spoken to that China is still very worried about
Speaker 1: the transmission asymptomatic to asmatic and stematic. Person Aaron Banko,
Speaker 1: national security reporter at The Daily Beast, thank you very
Speaker 1: much for joining us. Thanks for having me. I'm Oscar
Speaker 1: Ramirez and this has been your daily coronavirus update. Don't
Speaker 1: forget that. For today's big news stories, you can check
Speaker 1: me out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday,
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