• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • WHAT’S ON FOX
  • ABOUT
    • Meet Our Team
      • Our Journalists
      • Job Openings
      • Sales & Programming
    • Contact WSFX
      • Sales & Programming
  • Welcome Home

Fox Wilmington WSFX-TV

Wilmington, NC | Local news Weather and Sports

  • Local News
    • Unsung Heroes
      • Nominate an Unsung Hero
  • Local Weather
  • National
  • Sports
    • Panthers 2023 Game Schedule
    • Carolina Panthers
    • High School Football
  • Politics
    • NC Voter Information
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • What’s on TV?
  • MORE…
    • Technology
    • Science
    • Lifestyle
    • What’s Happening Wilmington

Dr. Anthony Fauci on coronavirus testing: ‘The system is not really geared to what we need’

March 12, 2020 By Sam Dorman

Dr. Anthony Fauci, an official with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), seemed to acknowledge in congressional testimony Thursday that the U.S. was not adequately prepared to monitor a disease like the coronavirus.

His comments came during a hearing in which Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., asked him whether there was someone who could ensure that coronavirus tests are administered in the U.S.

“The system is not really geared to what we need right now — what you are asking for — that is a failing … Let’s admit it,” he told the congresswoman.

“The fact is the way the system was set up is that the public health component … was a system where you put it out there in the public and a physician asks for it and you get it. The idea of anybody getting it easily, the way people in other countries are doing it — we’re not set up for that,” Fauci added. “Do I think we should be? Yes, but we’re not.”

NIH’S FAUCI WARNS CONGRESS ON CORONAVIRUS: ‘IT’S GOING TO GET WORSE’

Wasserman-Schultz responded by calling that assessment “really disturbing.”

Fauci’s comments came after President Trump announced a travel ban on people coming from Europe. That excluded U.S. citizens and permanent residents.

Fauci serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is helping to lead the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a Wednesday hearing, Fauci told the House Oversight Committee that the pandemic would get worse.

“Bottom line, it’s going to get worse,” Fauci said when asked for a prediction by committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. The National Institutes of Health’s official explained that this is due to what he called “community spread” and the difficulty in containing the virus.

More from Media

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fauci said that “although we are containing it in some respects, we keep getting people coming in from the country that are travel-related, we’ve seen that in many of the states that are now involved.” This, in addition to community spread, “makes the challenge much greater,” he said, adding, “So I can say we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now.”

On Wednesday night, President Trump remained optimistic, telling Americans: “The virus will not have a chance against us. No nation is more prepared, or more resilient.”

Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer contributed to this report.

Filed Under: National Headlines

Primary Sidebar


 

Follow Us On Facebook



TRENDING NOW

Damian Lillard says months following trade request ‘left a sour taste in my mouth’: report

Swimming 6-Month-Old Who Went Viral Is Now 8 and Loves the Pool

Travis Kelce responds to Mark Cuban’s suggestion Taylor Swift should dump Chiefs’ star for Mavericks player

Heartwarming Video Shows Adorable Boy Flagging Down His Dad for Goodbye Hug

Packers’ Matt LeFleur gets testy with reporter over ‘BS’ question after brutal loss: ‘We got our a– kicked’

Footer

PUBLIC FILE INFO

Individuals with disabilities who have questions about the content of our public file or website may contact Isabella Gano by phone at
(910) 343-8826 or by email at Isabella.gano@foxwilmington.com

 
 » WSFX FCC Public File
»EEO Report
»Closed Captioning

SITE MAP

  • Local Headlines
  • Coronavirus
  • Local Weather
  • National Headlines
  • Sports
  • Politics
  • Health

WSFX TV

  • Livestream Newscast
  • Meet Our Team
  • Sales & Programming
  • WELCOME HOME
  • Go With The Pros
  • Medically Speaking
  • WHAT’S ON FOX

Copyright © 2023 · American Spirit Media LLC · WSFX TV · Wilmington NC · Terms of Service · Privacy Policy