27 Feb 2020 7:49 pm
Whistleblower Says Federal Employees Flown From Coronavirus Sites Didn’t Follow Safety Protocols
Employees weren’t tested for virus before leaving California quarantine sites on commercial flights, complaint says.
A whistleblower alleges that some federal employees were sent to work at coronavirus quarantine locations in California without adequate safety protocols and then flew back home on commercial airplanes, according to a person familiar with the complaint against the Department of Health and Human Services.
The complaint, which HHS said it was evaluating, focuses on some employees who work at the Administration for Children and Families, or ACF, an HHS division that handles programs such as Head Start and disaster emergency response and that performed functions at some of the quarantine camps.
The U.S. repatriated Americans from China on planes chartered by the State Department in early February. They were subject to 14-day quarantines.
Employees didn’t receive prior safety training relevant to the California assignment, the whistleblower alleges, according to the person familiar with the complaint.
The employee who filed the complaint said she declined to go to one of the quarantine sites and was then reassigned for raising concerns about employee safety, according to the person familiar with the complaint.
The employees weren’t tested for the coronavirus before they left two California quarantine sites, the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside and Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, and flew home, the person familiar with the complaint said.
There is no evidence that any of the workers contracted or spread the virus.
In response to the complaint, Caitlin Oakley, a spokeswoman at HHS, said Thursday: “We take all whistleblower complaints very seriously and are providing the complainant all appropriate protections under the Whistleblower Protection Act.
We are evaluating the complaint and have nothing further to add at this time.”
Earlier Thursday, without mentioning a whistleblower complaint, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D., Calif.) asked HHS Secretary Alex Azar Thursday if there was a lapse in basic safety protocol at the air force bases that could have “endangered the employees and other Americans.”
Mr. Azar said he was unaware of any concerns.
“I don’t believe that’s taken place,” Mr. Azar testified Thursday in a House budget hearing.
He also said he disagreed with a characterization by Mr. Gomez that it was “chaotic” on the ground at the two quarantine bases.
Mr. Azar said he wasn’t aware of any violation of quarantine or violation of protocols at the sites.
“Urgency does not compensate for violating isolation and quarantine protocols for personal protection,” he added.
According to the person familiar with the complaint, it was filed to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a permanent and independent agency that deals with whistleblower complaints from executive-branch employees.
The complaint might put additional pressure on the Trump administration, which has faced criticism from some Democrats for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/whistleblo ... 1582840144