The United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic with consists of various measures by the medical community; the federal, state, and local governments; the military; and the private sector. The public response has been highly polarized, with partisan divides being observed and a number of concurrent protests and unrest complicating the response.
Medical response
Initial response outside the U.S. On January 6, a week after the U.S. was informed about the outbreak in China, both the Health and Human Services department and the CDC offered to send a team of U.S. health experts to China. According to CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, the Chinese government refused to let them in, which contributed to the U.S. getting a late start in identifying the danger of their outbreak and containing it before it reached other countries. Secretary Alex Azar said China did notify the world much sooner than it had after their SARS outbreak in 2003, but it was unexplainably turning away CDC help for this new one.
On January 28, the CDC updated its China travel recommendations to level3, its highest alert. Azar submitted names of U.S. experts to the WHO and said the U.S. would provide $105million in funding, adding that he had requested another $136million from Congress. On February 8, the WHO's director-general announced that a team of international experts had been assembled to travel to China and he hoped officials from the CDC would also be part of that mission. The WHO team consisted of thirteen international researchers, including two Americans, and toured five cities in China with twelve local scientists to study the epidemic February 16–23. The final report was released on February 28.
In late January, Boeing announced a donation of 250,000 medical masks to help address China's supply shortages. On February 7, The State Department said it had facilitated the transportation of nearly eighteen tons of medical supplies to China, including masks, gowns, gauze, respirators, and other vital materials. On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo announced a $100million pledge to China and other countries to assist with their fights against the virus.
On February 28, the State Department offered to help Iran fight its own outbreak, as Iran's cases and deaths were dramatically increasing. Iran said, however, that U.S. sanctions were hampering its battle with the disease, which the U.S. denied, saying that Iran had mishandled the crisis.
Testing
Testing for SARS-CoV-2 can allow healthcare workers to identify infected people. It is also an important component of tracking the pandemic. There are various types of tests currently on the market; some identify whether or not a patient is currently infected, while others give information about previous exposure to the virus.
A report published in January 2021 revealed that a Chinese firm, BGI Group, was attempting to distribute its COVID-19 testing kits to at least 11 states in the US. The U.S. intelligence and security officials raised warnings about the security risks involved in using these kits, as BGI was trying to use the patients' DNA, via the gene-sequencing machines that were being pitched to the U.S. labs. However, federal agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as the United States Department of Health and Human Services were pushing the states to use the BGI testing kits, despite such warnings. Besides the 11 states, Nevada received the Chinese-made testing kits from Abu Dhabi's data and artificial intelligence firm, Group 42, in collaboration with BGI. Some of the testing supplies were used in Nevada, but states like Alabama, South Dakota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Kansas, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania didn't purchase the BGI kits.