Sen. Kelly Loeffler: China is holding up U.S. test kits
Sen. Kelly Loeffler told 'America's Newsroom' testing is being held up by China, they're playing game with trade policy
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China is "playing games" with trade policy to prevent the United States from getting coronavirus testing, Georgia Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler said Friday.
Appearing on "America's Newsroom" with host Sandra Smith, Loeffler said that while the Trump administration and his advisory group of lawmakers are working to reopen the nation's economy, testing is a key component of the initiative.
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Testing is a critical issue for the Peach State. There were more than 200 deaths and nearly 5,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in one week alone. However, there are only 5,000 test kits currently available.
"Well, I've stayed in close contact with our health care providers. In fact, I'm leaving here to get on a call with heads of hospitals," she told Smith.
"The president acknowledges that testing is core to opening our country back up. The governor is working hard on it," Loeffler continued.
"But, I've got to tell you, Sandra. I'm concerned that China is holding up test kits," she warned. "They are playing games with trade policy to prevent us -- the United States -- from getting the testing that we need."
However, the number of tests from China is not the only problem.
In the scramble to obtain the life-saving kits, countries like Spain, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, and Britain have all been sent faulty antigen or antibody coronavirus tests purchased from Chinese companies -- in some cases, costing those governments millions.
The country of Georgia has canceled a contract with the same company that sent flawed kits to Spain and Malaysia has opted to buy their testing kits from South Korea instead of China.
But, the desperation of the world has still created a paradise for con artists and scammers -- despite China's efforts to rein in subpar PPE and tighten export standards.
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"We are looking into this," Loeffler promised. "We have got to make sure that those tests get freed up, get in our hands, and Americans get tested and back to work.
"This is critical," she concluded.
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