White House trade adviser Peter Navarro argued that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “let the country down” on coronavirus testing, placing blame on a top public health agency for early issues as the Trump administration continues to face questions about a national testing strategy.
Navarro’s comments on NBC’s Meet the Press come as the U.S. has nearly 1.5 million COVID-19 cases with a death toll that is nearing 90,000. Reports emerged in April that there was a delay in the rollout of COVID-19 testing due to a contamination in a CDC laboratory. NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Navarro if President Donald Trump still has confidence in the CDC to which Navarro demurred, but noted that the delay set the U.S. back in its response to the pandemic.
“Early on in this crisis, the CDC which really had the most trusted brand around the world in this space, really let the country down with the testing,” Navarro said Sunday. “Because not only did they keep the testing within the bureaucracy, they had a bad test and that did set us back.”
Photos: Hospitals Fighting Coronavirus
In a separate interview on CBS’ Face the Nation, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar acknowledged the initial issues with CDC testing but defended the agency since he said that private companies would ultimately be responsible for mass testing. When asked about Navarro’s comments, Azar disagreed and said that the CDC “serves an important public health role.”
Navarro also discussed the reopening of the country, saying that it “isn’t a question of lives versus jobs.” He argued that stay-at-home orders and hospital restrictions “indirectly kill a lot more people” than the virus itself because Americans won’t have as much access to routine health checkups and surgeries and procedures unrelated to the pandemic.
“If you contrast this complete lockdown where some of the people in the medical community want to run and hide until the virus is extinguished, that’s not only going to take a huge toll on the American economy, it’s going to kill many more people than” the coronavirus pandemic, Navarro said Sunday.
As states continue to ramp up their testing capabilities, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that employees who return to work during the first phase of reopening can receive a COVID-19 test. Phase 1 workers include those in the construction, agriculture and manufacturing industries. As a way to encourage COVID-19 testing and showcase the swift process, a doctor administered a swab test for the governor in the middle of his live briefing.
Meanwhile, health officials are warning about the risks of reopening and the likelihood of future outbreaks as more states loosen restrictions on restaurants, beaches, places of worship and other nonessential businesses. Even as governors reopen the majority of their state and businesses, some like Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine acknowledged the major risks of doing so.
Earlier this week, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, testified before a Senate panel that if states reopen prematurely and don’t have the capability to handle new cases, “the consequences could be really serious” and more outbreaks can occur.
Whistleblower Rick Bright, the ousted vaccine director, also testified before Congress this week, warning that the U.S. could face its “darkest winter in modern history” and will likely see a resurgence of cases in the fall which would be “greatly compounded by the seasonal influenza.”
But in a Sunday interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Azar said there are risks to remaining in lockdown for Americans’ health and the economy at large.
When asked about people ignoring social distancing guidelines and the large crowds gathering in reopened states, Azar said it’s “part of the freedom we have” in the U.S., adding that the federal government is relying on local leaders to “implement and interpret” the guidance especially in areas that still have community spread of the virus.
“I think in any individual instance, you’re going to see people doing things that are irresponsible,” Azar said. “That’s part of the freedom we have here in America.”
“But we gotta get this economy and our people out and about, working, going to school again because there are serious health consequences to what we are going through,” he added.
