CMS chief Seema Verma: US will see 'a bit of a hump on the curve' as more coronavirus tests take place
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Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma, a member of President Trump's coronavirus task force, told Fox News Thursday that she projects a spike in the number of cases over the next few days as health officials work through a "backlog" of tests.
"As we see an increase in testing we are already seeing the number of cases go up," Verma told "Bill Hemmer Reports". "It's important for people to really understand what we will see over the next few days. You are going to see a big increase in testing, but that's not necessarily because of the rate of infection is going up, it's because there's a backlog of tests."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Verma added that that when a sufficient number of potentially infected Americans are tested, officials will know whether the social distancing guidelines given by states and the federal have worked to flatten the infection curve of the contagion.
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"We are going to have a bit of a hump on the curve and I think after that, when we get caught up in the testing, we will have a better sense of how the social distancing -- we will have a better sense of what type of an impact it is going to have."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Americans have been strongly urged to remain indoors and stay at least six feet away from each other if they do go outdoors so as to inhibit the spread of the virus -- though those warnings have largely gone unheeded unless under edict in popular Spring Break destinations in the Southeast.
Verma said the social distancing idea has worked in South Korea, which has led to a decrease in new cases.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She added that telemedicine is a great option for people who have questions or suspect they may be getting the virus. Verma said that practice is completely covered with no copay.
"This is really important for health care workers. It protects them and helps preserve supplies, personal protective equipment that we are hearing people have concerns about, and it actually frees up more of those supplies," she said.