//Seems the US Public Health Service Corp should be one of the lead agencies addressing this Covid 19 virus issue/response. It's mission is to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our country/Nation through a commissioned corps of military/civil officers that supplement the military at times of conflict. As America's uniformed service of public health professionals, the Commissioned Corps achieves its mission through these tenets.
-Rapid and effective response to public health needs
-Leadership and excellence in public health practices
-Advancement of public health science
WHERE are they in this virus conflict? (other than some Indian reservation providing free medical care?) This situation should be what it's charter and mission is all about. We support the USPSC through federal taxes and settled law (liability). Today, with the global medical issues; this outfit makes more sense than a space force. // Just my thoughts. //

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/03/13/trump-coronavirus-testing-128048

Yes. Dr. Giroir has been tapped to untangle the testing fiasco.

From the press conference I've seen they are the ones setting up the drive thru testing. I believe it was also mentioned they were providing care in the Washington nursing home that for hit hardest in the original outbreak.

Admiral Giroir has been speaking at all of the press conferences the last few days.

Small world note: Admiral Giroir and his family lived on my street in Dallas when I was a kid. Super nice family.

The short answer is that they have are already involved. Some have been deployed to various quarantine locations, others are currently setting up testing sites. Many are assigned to CDC in various medical and epidemiology roles and are providing support functions in their normal duties. Some have also made the news by deploying oversees. As mentioned above, if you have been watching the daily WH briefings, you saw the two highest ranking PHS officers (the Assistant Sec. of Health and the Surgeon General) on TV.

The government has not provided any real direct funding to the PHS. Almost all of the funding over the last 30+ years has come from the HHS agencies (and more recently DoD) that the officers are assigned to in their normal duties. This creates a problem for deployments, as many PHS officers provide critical leadership positions within those agencies or provide subject matter expertise that cannot be easily replaced (and are being paid by their agency, which creates a conflict). In some cases, these officers are already supporting the coronavirus response in very important ways at the NIH, CDC, and FDA in the areas of vaccine and drug development and regulation. So, it may not make sense to deploy some of those officers. At this time, the PHS (presently ~6,000 officers) does not have a "reserve" component but that could be changing over the next few years (if bill S.2629 ever passes). That should eliminate the problem.

Also, it is important to note that the lead agency in national emergencies is not the PHS. It is FEMA. FEMA provides 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs). The PHS assists FEMA with ESF8 (Medical), upon their request.

//Thanks Tnelle, A reserve component, that can be activated during national medical emergencies, makes alot of sense in sourcing personnel when time is critical. These could be frontline/retired docs in academia or new internist.//Just my thoughts