Dr. Birx: Federal government is ‘working on expanding testing strategy across the U.S.’
Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Friday, April 17, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 12:08 PM PT — Sunday, April 19, 2020
Coronavirus task force member Dr. Deborah Birx has spoken out on making coronavirus testing more widely available across the U.S. On Sunday, Birx announced the federal government is working with every governor, mayor and laboratory to ensure quality tests are getting out to the American people.
She also estimated around 30,000 to 50,000 tests are being done, but not all are being reported.
According to the doctor, the president initially prioritized testing and treating those who needed it the most. However, she noted the government is now expanding its testing strategy.
“He wanted to make sure that everyone who was sick had a test, everyone that was sick who needed a hospital bed got a hospital bed, and everyone that needed a ventilator got a ventilator,” stated Birx. “Now we’re working on expanding testing strategy across the United States, but in deep partnerships with governors and, more importantly, lab directors, who actually know precisely what the issues are that need to be solved.”
Dr. Deborah Birx outlines massive nationwide testing capacity for millions of testshttps://t.co/qpUXpD8ohh pic.twitter.com/KAnMlckVXK
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Drivers wait in line at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing location Saturday, April 18, 2020, in Franklin, Tenn. An expanded testing effort launched in Tennessee Saturday includes workers from the Tennessee National Guard at 15 drive-thru testing sites across the state. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
While speaking on China’s response, Birx emphasized the first country exposed to a pandemic has a “higher moral obligation on communicating and transparency.”
“There is never an excuse to not share information,” she said. “When you are the first country to have an outbreak, you really have a moral obligation to the world to not only talk about it, but provide that information that’s critical to the rest of the world to really respond to this credibly.”
The task force expert went on to say studies are underway to determine how long someone is immune to the coronavirus. She noted there are a number of experiments going on to discover how the virus affects a person’s body.
In terms of a vaccine, Birx has said scientists are still working to see whether giving antibodies from someone who’s already recovered from the virus to another will “confer protective immunity.” According to her, this is likely the case, but it’s unclear how long immunity would last.
“In most infectious diseases, except HIV, we know that when you get sick, recover (and) you develop antibody, that antibody often confers immunity,” she explained. “We just don’t know if its immunity for a month, six months, immunity for six years.”
Some experts believe immunity from the coronavirus lasts about two to three years, based on what’s already known about the virus.