Congress livid over lags in coronavirus testing

I think this is the section this should be in since it is breaking political news


A hearing today before many in Congress shut down their offices.

I am really starting to think this is a debacle the US being so far back on testing.

It's a national scandal

www.politico.com...

Congressional Republicans and Democrats were outraged on Thursday over the country’s significant lag in coronavirus testing, following closed-door briefings from U.S. health officials about the ongoing pandemic.
The simmering frustrations from the twin briefings spilled into public view on the House and Senate sides of the Capitol, where lawmakers began shutting down their offices and tours and other public visits were scrapped indefinitely.
“They’re ramping up, but they’re still saying it’s two weeks before we can get widespread testing,” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said, adding that President Donald Trump was “not accurate” when he said all Americans who want to get tested can get one.
“People should not say, ‘If you want a test, you can get a test’ right now. That’s coming. That’s not here right now,” Lankford added. “We’ve got a long way to go to be able to get rapid, efficient testing.”
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate’s health committee, said after the briefing that the U.S. is “not the best equipped nation in terms of testing.”
“That's absolutely obvious every single senator who asked a question today,” Alexander said, calling it “a serious deficiency” for the country’s health care system.

I just don’t understand this. Tell me why and how this could happen

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said the officials were “having a very difficult time giving us the numbers that we're going to need in terms of exactly how many tests and how quickly.”
Despite these criticisms, Trump on Thursday insisted that the U.S. has done a “good job” on testing.
“Frankly, the testing has been going very smooth,” Trump said. “If you go to the right agency, if you go to the right area, you get the test.”
Senators warned that the U.S. health care system could soon become overwhelmed, noting that countries such as Italy and South Korea are dealing with an influx of patients and limited medical supplies. More than 12,000 people have been infected with coronavirus in Italy, while South Korea has an estimated 7,800 cases.
About 1,200 people in the U.S. have tested positive for the virus, and that number is expected to grow in the coming days and weeks.

“It’s very frustrating that we have been so slow in getting the testing. There’s no question about that,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) added. “You can’t get wipes for your countertop. You can’t get alcohol. You can’t get masks in our country. And it’s very difficult to get tests.”
Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) said Trump administration officials left “a lot of questions that are still not being able to be answered,” particularly on the nation's testing capacity.
“I believe the [Centers for Disease Control] struggled to give a really strong answer on being able to duplicate some of the places like South Korea,” he said.
Walker said officials indicated 2.4 million testing components had been disseminated but not necessarily put together yet. But those components would eventually be able to test about 800,000 people, he said.

Yah, they so pissed they are gonna go on another tax payer paid vacation

Put the blame where it belongs - the media, especially social media, has been whipping people into frenzies with each potential disaster and here we are.

a reply to: Willtell

If people were able to get tested easily we’d have a more accurate count of the numbers. And with the rate this is spreading, that would make the stock market dip even more. And that’s all this is about.

The current government has been downplaying this from the start in hopes they can salvage the talking point of a “great stock market”. That’s it. That’s why there has been such a pushback against testing. Does anyone really believe we don’t have the ability to test people when South Korea is testing thousands a day?

For Christ sakes the Presidential press conference yesterday about the virus was nothing but the President and the heads of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

originally posted by: toolgal462
Yah, they so pissed they are gonna go on another tax payer paid vacation

huzzah!
well done

a reply to: underwerks

Ayyy. I can for once agree with you on something.

Star.

a reply to: underwerks

If people were able to get tested easily we’d have a more accurate count of the numbers. And with the rate this is spreading, that would make the stock market dip even more. And that’s all this is about.

Agreed , number suppression is the game , it's happening here in the UK too.

a reply to: underwerks

If people were able to get tested easily

is this an all in test?
or who should actually be tested?

I don't understand why the governor of my state said they will be doing testing at the state lab. Like it is no big deal? So, do we have room for lots of people doing the test? Do we have many locations to do the testing?

Maybe she just doesn't care if it takes several weeks to get the results?

So government agencies like the CDC and the HHS have proven to be completely inept in their jobs. The media would have us believe Trump is somehow to blame. They're pushing an agenda to remove him from office and appoint a Democrat. Why would we vote for a Democrat in favor of higher taxation to support more funding for these inept government agencies?

I don't see the logic behind this line of thinking. The fact is that the bureaucracy that comes with government is the reason that these agencies are worthless.

It is a reasonable critique that the CDC tests designed failed and the new ones are finally getting out now.
Good thing Trump did not design those tests himself..lol
The criticism has been heard and the problem has been addressed.
Time to move on or do you think they should impeach the president for this?
And since O'biden will be the candidate to challenge Trump for the presidency than we need to discuss this....www.abovetopsecret.com...


a reply to: Willtell

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: Willtell

If people were able to get tested easily we’d have a more accurate count of the numbers. And with the rate this is spreading, that would make the stock market dip even more. And that’s all this is about.

The current government has been downplaying this from the start in hopes they can salvage the talking point of a “great stock market”. That’s it. That’s why there has been such a pushback against testing. Does anyone really believe we don’t have the ability to test people when South Korea is testing thousands a day?

For Christ sakes the Presidential press conference yesterday about the virus was nothing but the President and the heads of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

I would imagine that anyone in the drivers seat, would likely have done the same..at the start..ie, downplay the fears and hold on to the economy. I'm no Trump fan but I doubt it would of been played different were it a different president.

I would like to know why the tests offered by WHO were not accepted, and who makes that decision?

originally posted by: shooterbrody
a reply to: underwerks

If people were able to get tested easily

is this an all in test?
or who should actually be tested?

Whoever shows symptoms.

Figuring out who has it versus who has just the regular flu or cold would let Doctors more accurately gauge the spread and severity of it. And that could go either way.

Either they find out it’s worse than they thought so they’re able to take better protective measures (isolating people, preventing further spread of it) or they find out it isn’t as bad in which case people won’t be freaking out and cleaning out stores of toilet paper.

That seems a better idea to me than looking the other way and hoping things don’t get bad.

a reply to: underwerks
do you regularly go to the doctor when you have a cold?
or seasonal allergies?

here, where I am, not many people are freaking out
there are still packages of toilet tissue and hand sanitizer at the stores
we are out of n95 face masks, but were able to get some before the run on them

originally posted by: vonclod

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: Willtell

If people were able to get tested easily we’d have a more accurate count of the numbers. And with the rate this is spreading, that would make the stock market dip even more. And that’s all this is about.

The current government has been downplaying this from the start in hopes they can salvage the talking point of a “great stock market”. That’s it. That’s why there has been such a pushback against testing. Does anyone really believe we don’t have the ability to test people when South Korea is testing thousands a day?

For Christ sakes the Presidential press conference yesterday about the virus was nothing but the President and the heads of Bank of America and Goldman Sachs.

I would imagine that anyone in the drivers seat, would likely have done the same..at the start..ie, downplay the fears and hold on to the economy. I'm no Trump fan but I doubt it would of been played different were it a different president.

I would like to know why the tests offered by WHO were not accepted, and who makes that decision?

I agree.

Most governments would have and have been doing the same thing. I also think we passed the point of that being a valid response a long time ago. The government currently seems to just be doubling down. Even as other countries have completely quarantined themselves.

What is so important about "testing anyone who wants a test"? ... why do so many people want to be tested in the first place? What does it accomplish other than give the preception that people are safe because their test (today) comes up negative.

Why is so much emphasis being placed on testing in general? It doesn't change the prognosis of the disease or the treatment. All it really does is give us arm chair cdc doctors something to talk about ("hey did you see the numbers in CA went up by 1 since I last looked an hour ago).

Today, does it really mater if the death rate is 10% or 2 % or the RO is 2 or 5? Are you supposed to be doing something different depending on that exact number? Is the government supposed to do something different? Does knowing those exact numbers materializes more respirators out of thin air? Does it create new hospital staff? Does it cause a panic? Will it make people wash their hands more or less?


This is simply another classic example of our do nothing government getting itself worked up about something that doesn't really matter because its easy and they want to look like they did something the next time they ask you for a campaign donation. And we eat it right up and ask for more.

The problem is that some places have been doing their own testing and told to stop. Washington was and the CDC told them to stop ... twice.

Then they tested the Utah Jazz player on-site and got results same day in a few hours, and that was in Oklahoma.

There is no excuse for there not to be testing. Clearly, it can and does happen when people want it to, but for some reason, the CDC doesn't want to allow it to happen. Why?

If massive testing was done and it showed the virus is far more wide spread than we're being led to believe, it might show the number of deaths for the average population to be far lower than the flu.
That would be letting a good crisis go to waste.
I'm appalled that congress is still going on break. How would they react if all medical personal went on vacation right now?

I keep praying people will wake up and vote out every single lawyer and career politician they can.

a reply to: nugget1

I'm appalled that congress is still going on break.

Huzzah!!

originally posted by: underwerks

originally posted by: shooterbrody
a reply to: underwerks

If people were able to get tested easily

is this an all in test?
or who should actually be tested?

Whoever shows symptoms.

Figuring out who has it versus who has just the regular flu or cold would let Doctors more accurately gauge the spread and severity of it. And that could go either way.

Either they find out it’s worse than they thought so they’re able to take better protective measures (isolating people, preventing further spread of it) or they find out it isn’t as bad in which case people won’t be freaking out and cleaning out stores of toilet paper.

That seems a better idea to me than looking the other way and hoping things don’t get bad.

Stop talking all this common sense. Don't you know this is all a hoax? Don't you know flu kills more people in a year than this virus has in a few weeks?

Yes, either the CDC is incompetent or someone high told them to not have tests available. It is one or the other.