- Title: Coronavirus testing in U.S. not geared for 'what we need' - Fauci
- Date: 12th March 2020
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MARCH 12, 2020) (UNRESTRICTED POOL) WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), SAYING: "Basically, you seem to be saying, because you can't name anyone specifically, that there's no one specifically in charge that we can count on to make sure that people who need to be tested, healthcare workers or anyone else, there is not one person that can ensure that these tests can be administered. Yes or no? DIRECTOR OF THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION ROBERT REDFIELD LOOKING ON WIDE OF HEARING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANTHONY FAUCI, HEAD OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, SAYING: "The system does not, is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing. Yeah, it is a failing, let's admit it. The fact is, the way the system was setup is that the public health component, that doctor, that Dr. Redfield was talking about was a system where you put it out there in the public and a physician asks for it and you get it. The idea of anybody getting it easily, the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes, but we're not." (SOUNDBITE) (English) REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), SAYING: "OK. That's really disturbing. And I appreciate the information." WIDE OF HEARING
- Embargoed: 26th March 2020 16:49
- Keywords: Dr. Anthony Fauci NIH congressional hearing coronavirus
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA001C4QZWAV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The top U.S. official on infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, said on Thursday (March 12) that people cannot get tests for the deadly coronavirus easily and the U.S. testing system is not meeting the country's needs.
"The system is not really geared to what we need right now... That is a failing. Let's admit it," Fauci said. "The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not."
Health experts have said a shortage of diagnostic test kits has made it difficult to gauge the full scale of outbreaks in the United States and curtail transmission of the virus.
More than 1,300 U.S. cases of coronavirus have been confirmed and 33 people have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The hardest-hit U.S. states, such as New York and Washington state, have struggled to quickly expand testing capacity to make such screening widely available.
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