House Oversight Chair Probes Lack of Coronavirus Tests
As the Trump Administration “has repeatedly failed to meet its goals for coronavirus testing,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and other subcommittee chairs are seeking answers in a letter Thursday to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CDC Director Robert Redfield.While noting that a previous request earlier this month for information on plans to ramp up testing have gone unanswered, the representatives say that “it has become clear that the Administration’s testing program is failing.”
The representatives point to testimony from Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who said at a hearing last week that the testing system is failing, as well as comments from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R), who said last week that more than 100,000 Ohio residents have undiagnosed cases of coronavirus, but only 1,000 testing kits have been made available to Ohio’s Department of Health.
Maloney and others add that they are “gravely concerned that, due to multiple missteps, people across the country have been unable to get tested as healthcare providers are being forced to ration the extremely limited number of tests available, significantly degrading our country’s ability to conduct accurate modeling of the spread of the virus and endangering the health and safety of the American people.”
In the first week of March, the administration claimed it would deliver testing capacity for one million people by the end of that week, but tests were made available for only 75,000 people, the letter notes.
Moving forward, the representatives are seeking the administration’s current plans for producing, distributing, ensuring adequate supplies and equipment for, and conducting coronavirus testing, among other pieces of information.
Letter