The COVID Tracking Project Part 1
1Digest
This podcast delves into the US government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, revealing a series of missteps and failures that left the country ill-prepared for the crisis. The story begins with the introduction of Project Argus, an early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks that successfully identified the swine flu outbreak in 2009. However, the federal government defunded Project Argus in 2013, leaving the US more vulnerable to future pandemics. As COVID-19 emerged, the lack of testing and data transparency became alarmingly apparent. Two Atlantic reporters, Rob Meyer and Alexis Madrigal, uncovered the CDC's delayed understanding of the pandemic's spread and the government's failure to release accurate testing data. This led to the creation of the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-led initiative that collected and published accurate COVID-19 testing data from states, becoming a vital source of information during the pandemic. The podcast also features an interview with Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force during the Trump administration. Dr. Birx expresses her concerns about the lack of testing, the reliance on ineffective temperature screenings, and the CDC's decision to use the flu model for COVID-19 testing, which she believes was inadequate for a pandemic. She also highlights the Diamond Princess cruise ship outbreak as a clear example of asymptomatic spread. The podcast concludes by highlighting the impact of the COVID Tracking Project and the emotional toll of the pandemic on volunteers, who felt a sense of "moral injury" due to the government's failure to provide accurate information and protect public health.
Outlines
The Global Story: Pandemic Preparedness and the US Response
This podcast explores the US government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the lack of testing, data transparency, and the crucial role of volunteer-led initiatives like the COVID Tracking Project in filling the information gap.
Project Argus: An Early Warning System for Pandemics
This chapter introduces Project Argus, an early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks developed at Georgetown University. It tracked global news sources for signs of emerging outbreaks, successfully identifying the swine flu outbreak in 2009. However, the federal government defunded Project Argus in 2013, leaving the US more vulnerable to future pandemics.
The Rise of COVID-19 and the Lack of Testing Data
This chapter discusses the emergence of COVID-19 and the initial lack of testing and data available to the public. It highlights the CDC's delayed understanding of the pandemic's spread and the government's failure to release accurate testing data.
Uncovering the Truth: The Atlantic Reporters' Investigation
This chapter follows two Atlantic reporters, Rob Meyer and Alexis Madrigal, as they uncover the alarming truth about the US's limited COVID testing capacity in early 2020. They discover that the CDC was six weeks late in understanding the pandemic's spread and that the government was not releasing accurate testing data.
The COVID Tracking Project: Filling the Data Gap
This chapter explores the CDC's failure to provide accurate and timely COVID data, leading to public health scientists and journalists taking matters into their own hands. The chapter introduces the COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-led initiative that emerged to fill the data gap.
Dr. Deborah Birx's Concerns and the Diamond Princess Outbreak
This chapter features an interview with Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force during the Trump administration. Dr. Birx expresses her concerns about the lack of testing and the reliance on temperature screenings at airports, which she believes are ineffective. She also highlights the Diamond Princess cruise ship outbreak as a clear example of asymptomatic spread.
Keywords
Project Argus
An early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks developed at Georgetown University. It tracked global news sources for signs of emerging outbreaks, successfully identifying the swine flu outbreak in 2009.
COVID Tracking Project
A volunteer-led initiative that emerged to collect and publish accurate COVID-19 testing data in the US. It became a vital source of information during the pandemic, filling the gap left by the CDC's lack of transparency.
Dr. Deborah Birx
Coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force during the Trump administration. She was a vocal advocate for increased testing and data transparency, expressing concerns about the CDC's reliance on the flu model for COVID-19 testing.
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
A federal agency responsible for protecting public health. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC faced criticism for its lack of transparency and its failure to provide accurate and timely data on testing and infections.
Asymptomatic Spread
The transmission of a virus by individuals who are infected but do not exhibit symptoms. This was a significant concern during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it highlighted the importance of widespread testing to identify and isolate infected individuals.
Data Science
A field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms, and systems to extract knowledge and insights from structured and unstructured data. Jeff Hammerbacher, a data scientist, played a key role in the COVID Tracking Project by collecting and sharing testing data from state websites.
Pandemic Preparedness
The process of planning and preparing for a pandemic, including developing strategies for surveillance, testing, and public health communication. The US was ranked the world's best prepared nation for a pandemic before COVID-19, but the government's response to the pandemic exposed significant gaps in its preparedness efforts.
Q&A
What was Project Argus and how did it help identify the swine flu outbreak?
Project Argus was an early warning system for infectious disease outbreaks that tracked global news sources for signs of emerging outbreaks. It successfully identified the swine flu outbreak in 2009 by monitoring reports of sick pigs and farmers in Mexico.
Why did the federal government defund Project Argus in 2013?
The reasons for defunding Project Argus are not explicitly stated in the transcript. However, the chapter suggests that the decision left the US more vulnerable to pandemics, as it eliminated a valuable early warning system.
What was the Atlantic reporters' role in uncovering the lack of COVID testing data in the US?
Rob Meyer and Alexis Madrigal, two Atlantic reporters, discovered that the CDC was six weeks late in understanding the pandemic's spread and that the government was not releasing accurate testing data. They published an article on March 6, 2020, revealing the limited testing capacity in the US.
How did the COVID Tracking Project emerge and what was its purpose?
The COVID Tracking Project was a volunteer-led initiative that emerged to fill the data gap left by the CDC's lack of transparency. It collected and published accurate COVID-19 testing data from states, becoming a vital source of information during the pandemic.
What were Dr. Deborah Birx's concerns about the CDC's response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Dr. Birx expressed concerns about the lack of testing and the reliance on temperature screenings at airports, which she believed were ineffective. She also criticized the CDC's decision to use the flu model for COVID-19 testing, arguing that it was inadequate for a pandemic.
Show Notes
The United States has 4% of the world’s population but more than 16% of COVID-19 deaths.
Back in February 2020, reporters Rob Meyer and Alexis Madrigal from The Atlantic were trying to find solid data about the rising pandemic. They published a story that revealed a scary truth: The U.S. didn’t know where COVID-19 was spreading because few tests were available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also didn’t have public data to tell citizens or federal agencies how many people were infected or where the outbreaks were happening.
Their reporting led to a massive volunteer effort by hundreds of people across the country who gathered the data themselves. The COVID Tracking Project became a de facto source of data amid the chaos of COVID-19. With case counts rising quickly, volunteers scrambled to document tests, hospitalizations, and deaths in an effort to show where the virus was and who was dying.
This week on Reveal: We investigate the failures by federal agencies that led to over 1 million Americans dying from COVID-19 and what that tells us about the nation’s ability to fight the next pandemic.This Peabody Award-nominated three-part series is hosted by epidemiologist Jessica Malaty Rivera and reported by Artis Curiskis and Kara Oehler from The COVID Tracking Project at The Atlantic.
This is an update of an episode that originally aired in April 2023.
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