President Donald Trump appears to not be in agreement with Dr. Anthony Fauci’s take on the United States’ testing capacity to combat the coronavirus.
During the White House Coronavirus Task Force press briefing on Thursday, multiple reporters asked Trump about testing capacity following Fauci’s latest interview.
The first reporter noted Fauci’s concerns about the lack of testing to contain the coronavirus spread and asked the president, again, if the country has adequate testing capacity.
Trump fired back claiming the U.S. is “very advanced in testing. Other countries are calling us to find out what we’re doing.”
Another reporter also went for the same line of question and Trump quickly responded, “No.”
“No, I don’t agree with him on that. No, I think we are doing a great job on testing,” Trump said, adding, “If he said that, I don’t agree with him.”
See Trump’s remarks below:
Trump’s remarks came hours after Fauci’s “Time 100 Talks” virtual interview with Alice Park. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director admitted that he was not “confident” about the country’s testing capacity. (timestamp further down.)
Fauci not only raised concerns about testing capacity but also the country’s ability to perform testing.
“We absolutely need to significantly ramp up not only the number of tests, but the capacity to actually perform them,” Fauci said, adding, “So that you don’t have a situation where you have a test, but it can’t be done because there’s not a swab, or not an extraction media or not the right vial. All of those things gotta be in place.”
See Fauci’s remarks below:
Fauci made it clear he does not believe the country is where it needs to be to effectively contain the viral pandemic.
“I am not overly confident right now at all that we have what it takes to do that,” Fauci said, adding, “We are doing better, and I think we are going to get there, but we are not there yet.”
Additionally, Fauci admitted that roughly “less than 1.5 million” tests are being performed on a weekly basis.
Fauci went on to estimate that 3 million weekly tests would likely be needed each week to better evaluate the pandemic and “address blips” as they come up when the country’s economy reopens.
Fauci also had a difference in opinion regarding the reopening of the country. While Trump has made it clear he would like to open as soon as possible, the global health expert said, “We better be really careful as we move forward.”