Although India has only three confirmed cases of coronavirus, U.S. intelligence agencies are reportedly concerned about how the country would handle an outbreak.
India has the world’s second-largest and soon to be largest population and has a number of cities with high population densities, which has raised concerns in the intelligence community about the ability of the virus to spread and become a major outbreak, according to Reuters.
Intelligence agencies are also focused on Iran, which has seen a growing outbreak of the flulike illness. Although Iran claims it has 245 cases of the disease and 26 deaths, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States is “deeply concerned” the nation has covered up details about the outbreak.
Coronavirus has infected the vice president of Iran for women and family affairs and its deputy health minister. There are reportedly concerns that Iran’s response to the virus has been ineffective because it lacks the capability to tackle the problem.
Congress has been briefed by the intelligence community about the global outbreak and concerns of a pandemic.
“The Committee has received a briefing from the IC on coronavirus and continues to receive updates on the outbreak on a daily basis,” an official with the House Intelligence Committee said.
Agencies are reportedly using a wide array of intelligence-gathering tools, including undercover informants, to track the spread of the virus abroad and its impact. The Washington Examiner reached out to the CIA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Stock markets dropped sharply on Thursday amid fears of the virus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw the largest single-day point drop in U.S. history, plummeting 1,197 points and continuing earlier losses this week.
Vice President Mike Pence has been put in charge of efforts to coordinate a response to the illness in the U.S., which has 60 confirmed cases of COVID-19, many of which stemmed from a localized outbreak on a cruise ship.
