Source: Watchdog to feds: Do more to blunt COVID-19 harms | CIDRAP
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) this week recommended 16 federal actions to shore up the US response to the country’s ongoing COVID-19–related “catastrophic loss of life and profound economic disruption.”
While noting that the federal government has extended more than $1.5 trillion of the $1.6 trillion earmarked for economic assistance to families, local public health systems, and private businesses, the GAO’s Sep 21 report calls for the government and Congress to take additional steps as the country—already beleaguered by the coronavirus—also faces fall’s hurricane and flu seasons.
The recommendations center on collecting reliable data to support decision making, establishing protocols for accountability and transparency, and preventing the hacking of patient information, intellectual property, public health data, and intelligence.
“If implemented, those suggestions have the potential to significantly improve the nation’s response to the current pandemic as well as strengthen preparations for future public health emergencies,” Gene Dodaro, head of the GAO, said in a GAO news release.




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