Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, right, listens during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, March 2, 2020.
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A top U.S. official said the nation cannot process coronavirus tests as quickly, easily or in the same volume as other countries — even as the virus spreads to 44 states — and that's "a failing."
"The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for. That is a failing," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday at a hearing on the nation's preparedness for the outbreak.
"The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, we're not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes. But we're not," Fauci testified.
The virus has now spread across 44 states and Washington, D.C., Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announced during the hearing.
On Tuesday, Redfield testified at a separate budget hearing that a lack of funding has hampered the federal government's response to the outbreak. The CDC's tests were initially marred[1] due to quality control issues, which delayed tests for Americans who thought they were infected and prompted some states like New York to seek emergency approval to use their own kits.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he asked 28 state labs to "get up, get running and start moving forward" with coronavirus testing after he...