Dr. Marc Siegel: Rapid testing needs to take place before reopening economy
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel joins ‘Fox and Friends.’
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America's economy cannot reopen without rapid COVID-19 testing capability, Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel said Thursday.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with host Ainsley Earhardt, Siegel said that increased testing so that those who were exposed, those who have symptoms, and those who are recovering can be tested, will let medical professionals "so much better control this and figure out who gets back to work and what we can reopen."
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"And, we can reopen places where we know everybody in that place has antibodies," he added. "Now, that's not a perfect example because you may not know how strong those antibodies are and, in some cases, we're seeing weak antibodies after you get over it. But, you get the idea, Ainsley."
Siegel also pointed out that Surgeon General Jerome Adams reported earlier that new CDC guidelines are saying that certain essential workers can go back to work even after being exposed to the virus.
"I'm OK with those guidelines, but I would also wish that people like bank workers, that the police, that health care workers, of course, across the board, energy workers, transit workers could be tested after they've had exposure," Siegel remarked.
However, for non-essential workers, Siegel told Earhardt that they likely would not be able to return until physicians can be assured that they haven't been exposed to COVID-19.
"It's not just guidelines. Everyone out there needs to know, it's not just guidelines. It's how they're applied," he explained.
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"And let's also keep in mind that this is often asymptomatic. So that's the biggest problem: people can be passing this without knowing it," Siegel stated further.
"The answer to [the] question: yes, non-essential workers can go back once we have the rapid testing and we're using it across the board," he concluded.
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