On January 28th Trump was briefed by the DNI Robert Obrien. He was told COVID-19 was 5 times more deadly than the flu

He was also told by Mathew Pottinger that it had been learned that it was passed thru the air human to human.

The DNI has access to thousands of assistants who are experts in Viruses Like COVID-19. Later Feb 7th he was told that

it could spread to children, which he ignored.