‘Next Pandemic’ Early-Warning System Said to Need Real-Time Data

Public health analysts are recommending real-time data on emerging diseases and robust systems for sharing that information to allow the U.S. to respond more quickly in the event of another disease outbreak.

The U.S. health system was ill-prepared when Covid-19 landed. Federal responsibility was spread out across agencies such that accountability for responding to catastrophic events was unclear, industry participants said.

“If we had much more real-time information about who was infected in the country back in February and March, we could have avoided not only a lot of illnesses and deaths, but a lot of unnecessary economic consequences resulting ...