Alexander Heffner

Opinion contributor

The Trump administration’s response to the new coronavirus pandemic has been woefully inadequate. A travel suspension is not being promptly applied to the new hot spots of the virus. A much delayed funding request that is considered by experts ludicrously insufficient, less than half of the Ebola emergency funding despite being a global threat.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has promised “radical transparency,” yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not explained its restricted diagnostic definition, minimal testing capacity and refusal to approve testing for local hospital and municipalities.

The question arises — is this incompetence or something worse? Lies and cover-up artistry are right from President Donald Trump’s disinformation playbook. Harvard physician Michael Mina, who is eager to launch tests of patients, told me about the CDC delays: “It’s very strange (and) difficult to understand the lack of public discourse on the problems. I am starting to wonder if it is willful ignorance. I don’t particularly think so and hope not, but the reasonable explanations are dwindling.”

Mina’s fear of domestic contagion is now evident in California’s newest COVID-19 case, which is of unknown origin. CDC's restricted criteria led to the patient not being tested for days, risking harmful exposure to others. COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that’s a close cousin to what caused the outbreaks of the severe acute respiratory syndrome and the Middle East respiratory syndrome.

Moderators ignored critical news

Trump’s news conference Wednesday was full of misleading statements and unsettling mixed signals, as well as an unserious demeanor inappropriate for the topic. But at this week's debate in Charleston, South Carolina, the Democratic field likewise failed to boldly address the emerging crisis.

The moderation of the debate was an insult to viewers in its disregard for breaking developments — an uncontrolled virus spreading and the dramatic reactions of global and American markets. The candidates should have preempted the canned, already litigated, foolishly obsolete and futile questions.

The Trump administration is manifestly unprepared for the crisis — and specifically jeopardized our security by dismantling or gutting federal response teams at the National Security Council, the CDC, the Department of Homeland Security and the Agency for International Development.

We need a Health Care New Deal

There was a massive missed opportunity, in particular, for the progressives. They should be in the forefront of protecting health care and mobilizing our health system to meet this moment. If indeed the pandemic is as severe as projected, we need a Health Care New Deal that invests in medical innovation and removes once and for all the greed — and profit imperative — from our medical system.

Whereas the Green New Deal considers goals that are critical but somewhat abstract, in the coronavirus threat, America now has a concrete and immediate challenge before it. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts contrasted herself with Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont as the progressive with the can-do spirit and willingness to dig into the details. Yet they both lacked imagination to explain how universal health and emergency care is really an extension of a pandemic response — and are as important to pursue as investments in vaccinations and our scientific infrastructure.

New coronavirus: Dr. Anthony Fauci on what we don't know

The private sector will not cure this on its own. We should be building the next state-of-the-art hospitals in America. Why aren’t we?

Well, for one, we know Trump the builder is a fraud. He promised infrastructure and delivered none. We also know that he’s scientifically illiterate, and a "pathological liar," as Sanders says. The virus will not disappear this spring, and there is no vaccine for the current outbreak.

The top policy grievance of voters for sometime has been the inaccessibility and unaffordability of medical care and insurance — a system that puts profits before the health of the American people. The fight against coronavirus should be part of a broader Democratic campaign to improve the lives of Americans and the next generation.

Democrats, wake up. Your moment is now.

Alexander Heffner is the host of "The Open Mind" on PBS and co-author of "A Documentary History of the United States." Follow him on Twitter: @heffnera