The U.S. government is investigating an accusation that federal workers were not provided proper protective gear and training before greeting U.S. citizens who evacuated from a cruise ship that had 691 people infected with the novel coronavirus.
According to U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, he was personally involved in the probe, and the government aims to ensure the security of its workers.
This involves the Health and Human Services Department employees sent to Travis and March Air Force bases in California to aid the quarantined evacuees. The Office of Special Counsel confirmed on Thursday it has received the anonymous whistleblower's complaint and has opened a case.
Reps. Mark Takano, John Garamendi, and Scott Peters, all D-Calif., requested the HHS to further brief them, along with information on the allegations.
Handling the situation with urgency, leaders from HHS said it is "conducting an ongoing, comprehensive internal investigation in response to the whistleblower's claims."
Lawyers for the whistleblower said the workers did not show symptoms of infection and were not tested for the virus.
The whistleblower alleged that she was unfairly and improperly reassigned after underscoring concerns about the safety of these workers to HHS officials.
According to the office of Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, the complaint was filed by a high-ranking official at the Administration for Children and Families.
A dozen employees from the agency had been deployed to help connect the evacuees with social services that they might qualify for, including the unnamed whistleblower.
According to Azar, the HHS workers have not contracted the disease even if the allegations prove to be true.
"What the American people need to know is that we now have passed well over 14 days since any HHS employee had contact with the individuals involved. Nobody is symptomatic. Nobody has the disease," Azar said.
About 70 cases have been reported in the United States, while 47 cases were among people repatriated from the city of Wuhan in China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship quarantined in Japan.
Azar added that the department had offered to test any HHS employees involved if they wanted for extra relief.
The whistleblower reportedly contacted the office of Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., alleging retaliation by higher-ups for having flagged safety issues.
Gomez stated, "My concern from the moment I heard it is that individuals at HHS are not taking the complaints of HHS employees seriously."
According to an email to Congress sent in February, leaders from HHS, "HHS will fully brief Congress and the public when it has completed its investigation."
Congress and the public will have to wait for results.
The whistleblower was reportedly told Feb. 19 that if she does not accept the new position in 15 days, on March 5, she would be terminated.
The lawyers said she has decades of experience in the field, received two HHS department awards from Azar last year and has received the highest performance evaluations.
According to a description provided by the congressional office, the team members had gloves and masks at times, but they lacked the full protective gear and were not provided training on protection in a viral hot zone. Meanwhile, workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were in full gear to protect themselves from contracting the disease.
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