“Yes, we want to increase testing. There is no physical way to do 5 million tests per day in this country. If there is a way to turn it from 1 million to 5 million today, then let me know know, “Brm Girett told CNN’s Pamela Brown about” The Lead. “
Impressed when the Trump administration had exhausted its executive authority to get extra supplies for labs that process Covid-19 tests, Giroir said, “I will definitely say yes.”
Some laboratory directors broadly asserted the White House’s test blueprint, which places the responsibility on states to develop their own test plans, reinforcing a patchwork system that has exacerbated current challenges.
Their recommendations come as test results last several days or more, which can stimulate the capabilities of health officials to effectively track the spread of the virus.
Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told CNN’s Kate Bolduan earlier Friday that the US should perform 4 to 5 million Covid-19 tests a day – which would cover about 1.5% of the population.
Testing this percentage of the population “gives us a fighting chance to get this virus under control,” he said.
Giroir, however, maintained that “everything that can possibly be done is done” and dismissed Jha’s comments as proof that tests should actually “do OK.
“If there’s a good idea, I want to hear it. We use investment. We use the (Defense Production Act). We do everything. That, you know, and I feel pretty good, because when Dr. “Jha comes on TV and attacks whether I care about this country and my patriotism, I think if you have to put that down, the rest of the things have to do OK,” Giroir said.
CNN’s Curt Devine, Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein contributed to this report.
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