HHS Secretary Azar reacts to testing worries: ‘We have the testing capacity to get the job done’
Azar: We have the testing capacity to get the job done
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar addresses worries surrounding U.S. testing capacity.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar addressed worries surrounding U.S. coronavirus testing capacity while appearing on «Bill Hemmer Reports» Friday, saying worries expressed in a new Fox News Poll are «not based on the actual realities.»
«We’ve done over 12 million tests in this country, which is unprecedented. We’ll do 12 million more just in the coming weeks,» Azar said. «We have the testing capacity to get the job done through testing sites like this. We’re able to make it more convenient for people and accessible.»
FOX NEWS POLL: LACK OF CONTACT IS BIGGEST PERSONAL HARDSHIP OF THE PANDEMIC
According to the latest Fox News poll, more than 6 in 10 voters say the lack of available testing is a major problem, and many feel that way about the lack of a clear federal response.
Azar continued to defend the administration outlining their plan.
«We’ve got a six-part multifactor plan for how we deal with this. First, surveilance. Second, testing. Third, we contain outbreaks. Fourth, we have health care system resilience with capacity and supplies,» Azar said. «Fifth, we develop therapeutics to treat people. And then six, we bring vaccines to market under the president’s operation warp speed plan.»
The secretary also remarked on an op-ed he wrote in The Washington Post where he talked about reopening the economy, saying the lockdown is also having a negative effect on Americans.
«By being locked in and shut away, we’re denying ourselves critical health care services and we end the economic and social dislocation from being shut down is leading to mental illness and suicide risk,» Azar said. «So we’ve got hundreds of thousands of cancer cases that are not being screened and diagnosed and treated. We have kids who are not getting their pediatric vaccinations. We’ve got cardiac procedures that are not happening.»
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Azar stressed that there is a safe way to reopen.
«So this country’s got to get back to work. We’ve got to get back to school,» Azar said. «We’ve got to get back to living. And there are safe ways to do it thanks to President Trump’s response and our governor’s leadership.»
