At 5 a.m. California time, when it is still dark outside, a member of the state’s Department of Public Health gets on a weekly call.
The topic? Health emergencies all over the world.
For years, the U.S. federal government participated in these calls, which are organized by the World Health Organization. Now, as the Trump administration says it has withdrawn from WHO over its handling of COVID, among other things, California is stepping in.
It is the first state to join WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert & Response Network, also known as GOARN. Dr. Erica Pan, director of the California Department of Public Health, says she’s been in touch with other states hoping to follow suit. Illinois, in a press release, said it’s “making preparations” to join.
I feel sorry for those 6 million Californians who didn’t vote for this. They voted for the guy who wants to get out of the WHO and isolate themselves from the rest of the world, only for their governor to stab them in the back and reintroduce them to the WHO. Such a sad state of affairs.
/s
