Here are a couple of interesting quotes from the NYT regarding “preparedness.”

“We’re seeing a payoff of the original investment made in pandemic preparedness by the Bush administration,” said Jeffrey W. Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health. 

“If this gets worse, you’ll see the weakness of our system,” said Dr. Jeffrey P. Koplan, a former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “In an event like this, where everyone’s well-being is dependent on everyone else’s, we will both feel and see the problems our system creates.”

Dr. Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said federal officials reported six years ago that hospitals would need far more beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment to respond to a pandemic. Hospitals never got nearly enough extra equipment, Dr. Redlener said

“We will pay a very heavy price for this if we get the big one,” he said.