Universal testing key to national security
Most Americans are not fully aware how up to now the United States has been so effective at preventing, combating and mitigating outbreaks of infectious disease. We have been able to do this because of the expertise and responsiveness of superb institutions, independent agencies and offices throughout the federal government that effectively dealt with Ebola, H1N1, Zika, SARS and MERS.
I was alarmed by news reports in late December 2019 of a new or novel coronavirus. By January, the machinery of government with its unparalleled ability to project power globally, galvanize our allies and coordinate peer competitors in the field of science and technology should have activated to provide all needed resources and assistance to China to contain the disease. This was not a China problem; it was a global threat requiring a global response.
Early the next month, on Feb. 10, I held a press conference to raise public awareness on the emerging threat posed. Two weeks later, on Feb. 24, I called another press conference to urge that testing be given the highest priority in battling the spread of the new coronavirus and the sickness it causes called COVID-19. And I continue to champion testing as the tool that federal, state, tribal and territorial governments must embrace to support our COVID-19 economic recovery.
We are at the beginning of May and testing is still urgently needed. There cannot be further delay in acting. If we cannot see COVID-19 there is no way to stop it. If we do not dramatically increase testing, we will remain prisoners of COVID-19 until we have a vaccine widely available, which is not expected to occur until early 2021.
As the nation does battle with COVID-19 it is not the role of public policymakers to determine acceptable losses of civilian lives. Although in military battles commanders must calculate acceptable losses as part of battle plans, none of these calculations are based on the intentional sacrifice of lives. Any commander thought to have unnecessarily cost the lives of soldiers or civilians through their actions or decisions would face severe consequences. If the decisions are not driven by public health, but by economic interest, this is the wrong calculation. The economic injury caused by COVID-19 is because there has been and continues to be insufficient testing to check its spread.
Decisions to open state economies seem to want to place responsibility upon small business owners who decide to reopen without making clear what the consequences may be to them if even one case of COVID-19 occurs among their employees or customers.
For this reason, I have partnered with Houston hospitals, local public health agencies, local businesses and international corporations to promote the provision of community-based COVID-19 testing sites to assist in this critical first step in stopping COVID-19’s unchecked spread in local communities.
The economic and health security of the nation hinges on getting testing in every community so that we can shine a light on where COVID-19 is and where it is not present. The lack of testing early on and the continued lack of testing is costing trillions in lost economic output and it will continue to cost much more as we struggle to save lives through social distancing and providing adequate universal access to COVID-19 medical treatment, equipment and PPE to protect medical personnel as well as essential workers.
The virus that causes COVID-19 is less than 5 months old and it has rocked the world with its arrival. If this new coronavirus is under active transmission in communities, it could continue to evolve. This is the reason we must do the hard job of stopping this virus and do it sooner than later.
There are six actions that can be taken before the end of the summer to make it possible for children to return to school in the fall:
1. The president should use the Defense Production Act to produce enough of the COVID-19 15-minute test recently approved by the FDA for use in high risk areas like urban, rural and Native American communities and environments such as food processing, warehouses, production lines or factories.
2. Target COVID-19 pandemic aid to communities based upon mortality not just known infections.
3. Equip health care professionals with enough PPE to provide home health visits to the elderly who will need more engagement than telemedicine can provide to ensure their health and welfare.
4. Provide 100 percent paid medical leave for persons who themselves or someone in their household have one or more of the known risk factors that make COVID-19 a deadly threat.
5. Implement robust contact tracing efforts to ensure that every infection is tracked and those who may have been infected are identified.
6. Prepare contingencies to address public emergencies such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires in conjunction with COVID-19 for known seasonal highrisk disaster areas of the nation, such as along the Gulf Coast, the Mid-Atlantic, Tornado Alley and fire-prone California and the Caribbean.
A greater commitment to universal testing will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and cost far less than the economic stimulus that is very necessary as the economy stagnates under the weight of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders and quarantines. A misstep at this point can have dire consequences for the lives of families, their children and the elderly; and result in an even deeper impact on the local, state and national economy.
Congresswoman Jackson Lee is a Democrat from Texas’s 18th Congressional District. She is a senior member of the House Committees on Judiciary and Homeland Security and is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Coronavirus Task Force.