Azar wouldn’t classify the coronavirus as a pandemic: “I’m going to leave it for the World Health Organization to decide if we’re there.”
But he said „we have the capability in the field to test 75,000 people,“ and that number will expand dramatically over the next week. Azar also hopes to expand surveillance testing of flu-like symptoms across the country.
This announcement comes amid criticism from Democrats that the administration has been slow to respond to the coronavirus.
Speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence acknowledged the United States has lagged behind other countries in the manufacturing and distribution of coronavirus testing kits.
Azar defended the administration’s response, saying more than 3,600 people in the U.S. have been tested and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed a lab test “with historic speed.” He also defended President Donald Trump’s demonizing of Democrats for what he says are their “hoax” reactions to Trump’s handling of the situation.
“He’s talking about the partisan sniping that we’re seeing. And that’s just — it’s unnecessary. We don’t need to have this made a political issue. We’re in a public health crisis here.”
Source: politico.com
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