Hahn Contradicts Trump on Need for Widespread Testing
FDA commissioner Steve Hahn says that ramping up of caronavirus testing, both diagnostic and new antibody tests, will be necessary to gradually allow people who are isolating at home to return to work. Speaking 4/12 on ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos,” Hahn contradicted president Trump’s statement late last week that suggested widespread testing isn’t necessary to permit people back to work. “We have heard, and I have personally heard from people on the ground, that in some areas it’s very easy to get a test and in other areas it’s not,” Hahn said. “Now we need to do more, no question about that.”
Asked about antibody tests, which can detect whether somebody has already been exposed to it and may have immunity, and whether these will be widespread and available, Hahn said that FDA has already authorized one antibody test. “There are a number that are on the market that we haven't validated, that we haven’t looked at those data,” he said. “There is a U.S. government effort to look at some of those tests and to be able to allow that validation to occur.” Hahn also acknowledged FDA has evaluated reports from other countries about their antibody tests not being accurate. “I think it's really important for the American people to know that we need tests that are accurate, reliable and reproducible; that’s what FDA does in a science and data-driven way,” he said.
Meanwhile, National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci told CNN 4/12 that had the U.S. recommended social distancing earlier then lives would have been saved. Fauci’s candid response followed a question about a 4/11 New York Times report that the White House’s task force and other top officials wanted to recommend social and physical distancing guidelines to President Trump as far back as the third week of February, but the administration didn’t announce guidelines to the American public until 3/16, almost a month later.
He said that from a pure health standpoint, “(W)e make a recommendation. Often, the recommendation is taken. Sometimes, it's not. But it is what it is. We are where we are right now... I mean, obviously, you could logically say, that if you had a process that was ongoing, and you started mitigation earlier, you could have saved lives. Obviously, no one is going to deny that. But what goes into those kinds of decisions is complicated. But you’re right. I mean, obviously, if we had, right from the very beginning, shut everything down, it may have been a little bit different. But there was a lot of pushback about shutting things down back then.”
For his part, shortly after the interview ended, Trump retweeted a post that called for Fauciֺ’s firing. This led to more media speculation the following day, after which Fauci attempted to clarify his CNN remarks by saying Trump had supported his formal recommendation for social distancing, and that his comment about a lot of pushback about shutting things down was “a poor choice of words.”