HHS Assistant Secretary of Health on availability of COVID-19 testing
HHS's Admiral Brett Giroir told 'America's Newsroom' the country is not yet 'at the stage of being able to test everyone who just wants a test,' cities with more cases are being prioritized
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Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Admiral Brett Giroir was asked Tuesday about the apparent disconnect between the message coming from the administration on the number of available coronavirus tests and reports coming from state governors and the World Health Organization (WHO) on testing being insufficient.
Appearing on "America's Newsroom" with host Ed Henry, Giroir said that while it is very important to understand that the United States has made "unprecedented strides in testing," it is also important to understand that right now prioritization must play a key role -- helping case-heavy states like New York and New Jersey immediately with the resources that are available.
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"Well, I think it's very important to understand that we have made unprecedented strides in testing, but where we are we still need to prioritize those who really do need testing. Those who are sick. Those who are health care workers. Those who are elderly or in long-term care institutions — very important," he stated.
"We are not at the stage of being able to test everyone who just wants a test or even a person who is otherwise normal and healthy who might be mildly ill," added Giroir.
"Well, we'll have millions of tests being done over the next weeks, but not tens of millions of tests. We are not to that level yet," he continued. "So, that really – I think – is the asynchrony that you're hearing. We feel very good not only about the number of tests but the kind of tests that are available and being able to test the people who really need it at this time."
President Trump told governors on a conference call on Monday that he had not “heard about testing [problems] in weeks,” suggesting that a chronic lack of kits to screen people for the coronavirus was no longer a problem.
However, according to The New York Times, governors like Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, said that officials in his state were trying to do “contact tracing” — tracking down people who have come into contact with those who have tested positive — but that they were struggling because “we don’t have adequate tests.”
“Literally we are one day away, if we don’t get test kits from the CDC, that we wouldn’t be able to do testing in Montana,” Bullock said.
"Why that disconnect in the heart of America?" asked Henry.
Giroir told him that while HHS is working closely with rural states on services like "point-of-care" testing systems, New York City currently has more tests because of their high infection rate.
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"So, I do think the states like Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, will be greatly increased in their capacity in the upcoming time," he noted. "But, you have to understand New York City, California, Chicago, Detroit -- these are centers where they are really at critical points in time in their health care systems and a lot of the big, sort of, infrastructure laboratories are there."
"They really are just not in Montana or other states," Giroir concluded. "And so, more testing has gone on in those major metropolises."
The World Health Organization said Monday that the high percentage of positive test results in the United States is evidence that not enough tests are being conducted.
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