The US tried to improve matters. It spent $1 billion on detection labs and preparedness plans in developing countries, as required by the International Health Regulations; stockpiled protective equipment and set up networks of hospitals in the US primed to respond to a pandemic; and created an office in the White House to plan and lead the response, the National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense. All three, wrote Kirchhoff, were underfunded or shut down under the Trump administration. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the pandemic plan written by the Obama
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