Posted on 03/12/2020 4:34:01 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
America has failed to meet the capacity for coronavirus testing that it needs, a top public health official publicly acknowledged Thursday.
"The system is not really geared to what we need right now," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a House hearing about coronavirus test kits in the United States, which were initially dogged by technical glitches. "That is a failing. Let's admit it."
Fauci was responding to a question from Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida, who asked about a claim by trade organization National Nurses United alleging that "countless" health care workers exposed to the coronavirus have been refused a test for it.
When the virus first started appearing in America, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had narrow criteria for who could be tested for it, further limiting the number of tests performed on top of the technical problems. Those guidelines have since been expanded. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, who was also testifying in the hearing, directed Wasserman Schultz's question to Fauci.
"The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that," Fauci told Wasserman Schultz. "Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not."
The blunt acknowledgment came as the CDC reported it had tested just over 11,000 specimens for the virus so far, far fewer than other nations, especially given that multiple specimens are needed for each patient. Meanwhile, South Korea is testing nearly 20,000 patients per day, according to the BBC.
In response to Fauci, Wasserman Schultz said: "That's really disturbing, and I appreciate the information."
The question came a week after a nurse exposed to the virus in northern California said in a statement through National Nurses United
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Antibiotics or other preventative medicine has to be formulated and approved.
Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet overnight.
Just a quick question, how many were sent in to be tested?
Could it be just a tad over 11,000?
"The question came a week after a nurse exposed to the virus in northern California said in a statement through National Nurses United."
I am hearing a prog supporting Union here...
https://act.nationalnursesunited.org/page/-/files/graphics/NU-Quarantine-RN-press-conf-statement.pdf
Yeah, she actually said this...
"They said they would not test me because if I were wearing the recommended protective equipment, then I wouldn't have the coronavirus. What kind of science-based answer is that?" the nurse said.
.
“That’s right, Doc. Time to kicks some rears into gear.”
Don’t you find it suspicious that the media loves this guy?
i HATE the nytimes
How do you distribute something that is not being made? And our population is much bigger than SK or Singapore.
It's the government. Lots of chiefs, not many Indians. It's moving lightning fast by its own standards. Bureaucratic behavior, turf protection, self-congratulatory crap.
The government track record for truth and accuracy is as bad as the press. You can pretty much count on anything they say as misleading at best, and not unlikely false.
“Don’t you find it suspicious that the media loves this guy?”
Don’t watch TV news, so I don’t know how he’s being
covered. Of that gaggle he’s the only one who seems to
have any confidence or sense of purpose.
But standing next to Larry Kudlow will do that.
The one comfort I take from this...
It’d be a heck of a lot worse if the dems were in charge.
The biggest problem is the RNA resurgent agents. Only one company makes it in the USA (in Maryland). They’re going to go to three shifts, but it will still take time.
The rest of the manufacturing of RNA resurgent agents are made overseas—including China. So THAT supply was cut.
From USA Today:
Testing for coronavirus typically uses reagents, which are chemical substances used in laboratory analyses. The reagents extract, purify and stabilize RNA, or ribonucleic acid, in samples taken from patients suspected of having COVID-19.
That’s the first step in confirming or ruling out a tentative diagnosis. Qiagen says it leads the world in this type of testing.
Testing demand has led to a shortage of reagents for the RNA extraction process, said Dr. Eric Blank, the chief program officer for the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local governmental health laboratories in the USA and responds to disease outbreaks.
Do you think this promise was one he fabricated or misunderstood from one of his advisors? I think he's just the messanger. He could have screwed that job up, no doubt, he's done so before. But I think I heard other making the same sort of predictiona nd claim about millions of tests being available in a couple days.
I went to CVS today and was surprised to see bare or picked-over shelves for lots of things - cold and flu remedies, AirBorne, thermometers, heartburn meds, eye lubricant drops and lots of other ordinary things. I bought a larger-than-normal amount of deodorant, shave cream, distilled water and a few other things. I don’t fear complete collapse of manufacturing and distribution - I just want to avoid going out if it gets a lot worse (we are in one of the hot zones Santa Clara County, California).
It doesn’t explain how Hong Kong and South Korea got their testing ramped up so fast to very high volumes. Why weren’t we learning for what they were doing?
“give Academy Award type speeches”
Amen to that! “You are doing a great job.”
“Oh, you, too. You are doing a GREAT job.”
“Oh please. Nothing compared to the STUPENDOUS job you are doing. Thank you.”
“Oh it’s nothing compared to the SUPER GALACTIC MARVELOUS WONDERFUL job YOU are doing.”
BARF.
Fought the crowds at Sam’s and BJs today. Bought 2 cases of wine to supplement an already burdened wine shelf. I don’t drink the stuff but the wife does. I made bookoodles of brownie points with the little woman.
There will be no wine shortage at the Moovova casa...
Dr. Fauci has shown himself to be well informed and candid. Since the press keeps pumping out bad information, it is reassuring to hear from someone who knows what he is talking about.
The clinic I work in is free to run all of the corona virus tests we want. No CDC or state health department approval needed.
I’m curious.. why can we do better and get the tests out across the country?
Isn’t Dr Fauci in charge of the national agency (National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) that is supposed to be on top of getting the test kits done?
Or is there no one boss for that job, no “Czar” for it, and instead we had the left hand (some bureaucrat(s)) needing to get permission from the right hand (some other bureaucrat(s) to move the process one more step ahead, until its done????
How did South Korea do it. It was not the South Korean government. It was two national agencies, one in charge of making the test kits but needing approval of them from another agency. The U.S. people need to be reminded of exactly how South Korea got its test kits going, when the Dims demand a whole new national agency for it because our two federal agencies fell down on the job.
Here is how South Korea got its test kits:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-testing-intl-hnk/index.html
I saw video of some drive-thru testing somewhere in Asia. I surmise it was a temperature gun to the forehead.
No temperature, feel OK ? Yes... ...you’re good. ....no sympton, feel OK ?....you’re good, and so forth...
Yeah, wouuld cut down on time needed for the pressers, too. Or, at least, keep it focused on what’s going on. Don’t need no convention floor speechifyin’.
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