U.S. to ramp up testing for virus
Officials urged to take lead as virus cases climb
Four of the United States’ top health officials were urged to take more of a leadership role in the national battle against COVID-19 on Tuesday, as virus rates climb in reopening states and President Donald Trump calls for testing to be cut back.
Asked during a congressional hearing if they agree with the president’s call for a slowdown in testing, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, both said they’ve not been asked to do that.
“It’s the opposite,” Fauci said. “We’re going to be doing more testing, not less.” He also said he was “cautiously optimistic” that a vaccine for COVID-19 will be ready by the end of the year.
The hearing comes as the U.S. has recorded more than 2.4 million cases and more than 123,000 deaths, with rates of infection increasing across states in the South and West that were among the first to reopen. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said Monday cases there were increasing at “an unacceptable rate.”
Frank Pallone, the Democratic chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, opened the session by urging the health officials to take “more of a leadership role” in the national battle to stem the disease’s advance.
He focused in on the Trump rally in Tulsa, when the president asked for testing to be slowed down, saying it was “extremely reckless, and unfortunately it continues the pattern of the president ignoring his public health experts.”
In comments during the hearing, Fauci referred to the current number of virus cases in the U.S. as a mixed bag. “If you look at how we’ve been hit, we’ve been hit badly,” he said.
Joint prepared testimony from the officials said they anticipate coronavirus activity “to continue for some time” and warned that if the virus is still spreading once the annual flu season hits in the fall, it could be a “tremendous burden” on an already stretched health system.