Welcome to the inquiry on the BBC World Service. I'm Tanya Beckett.

Each week one question for expert witnesses and an answer.

In Snow Homish, a city in Washington State on the West Coast of America, on a morning in late

February a teenager wakes up and drags himself out of bed.

He's just returned to classes after taking time off for a cold.

He makes his way to Jackson High School, but when he gets there, something is different.

He's taken aside and told he has tested positive for the coronavirus. This comes as a surprise to the teenager.

He's never been to China or had contact with anyone who has. The weirdest bit was that he hadn't even gone for a

coronavirus test. The school was immediately shut down.

This was one of the first recorded cases of coronavirus in America and a very important one. The teenager had contracted the disease on American soil.

The world's richest country had taken several crucial weeks to wake up to the seriousness of the threat presented

by COVID-19.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now what you are asking for that is a

failing and it is a failing let's admit it That's the director of the National Institute of

allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauchy, saying this is a failing. I'm Tanya Beckett and on the inquiry this week we're asking

why did the USA fail in its initial coronavirus response? the

part part one,

part one failing the test. part one failing the test. The Test.

I'm Sherry Fink and I'm a reporter, a correspondent at the New York Times.

Our first expert witness isn't only a journalist, she's also a qualified doctor.

So I have a medical background and I tend to write about medical subjects.

When the coronavirus popped up on American shores,

...