HAVE YET TO PRESENT A UNITED
FRONT IN TALKS WITH DEMOCRATS.
THE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT RUNS
OUT THIS WEEK.
ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH AT THE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES AND TESTING COORDINATOR
FOR THE WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS
TASK FORCE.
THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME WITH
US, ADMIRAL.
TALKING ABOUT TESTING, IT IS OUR
PLEASURE BECAUSE YOU ARE THE
EXPERT ON TESTING, AND THAT’S
WHAT EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW.
RIGHT HERE IN THE DISTRICT THEY
ANNOUNCED THE LAG IS TOO GREAT
AND TESTS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE.
THIS IS OF COURSE BEING A
PROBLEM THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
YOU TOLD MY COLLEAGUE SAVANNAH
GUTHRIE ABOUT TEN DAYS AGO THAT
THE MAJOR PROBLEM WAS THAT
COMMERCIAL LABS WERE BEHIND ON
THE PROCESSING, THAT YOU WERE
GOING TO BE EXERTING A LOT OF
EFFORT TO GET THOSE LABS UP TO
SPEED WITH PEOPLE INCLUDING OUR
OWN WILLIE GEIST ACTUALLY SAYING
HE HAD TO WAIT TEN DAYS, SAYING
THAT TODAY, TO GET HIS TEST
RESULTS.
HOW CAN YOU GET THIS LAG TIME
DOWN TO THE OPTIMUM OF 24 TO 48
HOURS?
>> SO, THANK YOU, AND IT’S
REALLY THE PERFECT QUESTION TO
ASK.
AND ALL OF US ARE COMPLETELY
ALIGNED ON REDUCING THAT
TURNAROUND TIME.
WE’RE DOING ABOUT 770,000 TESTS
A DAY, PRETTY HISTORIC BUT WE
STILL HAVE TO WORK ON THE
TURNAROUND TIME.
ONE EFFORT IS TO IMPROVE POINT
OF CARE TESTING.
A QUARTER OF OUR TESTS RIGHT NOW
ARE DONE AS POINT OF CARE.
YOU’LL SEE THAT GOING UP PRETTY
DRAMATICALLY OVER THE NEXT MONTH
OR SO.
INDEED WE ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK
WE’RE SENDING POINT OF CARE
TESTS TO EVERY SINGLE NURSING
HOME.
THAT WILL REDUCE THEIR
TURNAROUND TIME AND TAKES A LOAD
OFF THE BIG COMMERCIAL LABS.
IN TERMS OF THE BIG COMMERCIAL
LABS, YOU’LL SEE A LOT OF
INNOVATION.
QUEST JUST RECEIVED THEIR
AUTHORIZATION FOR POOLING FOUR
TO ONE SAMPLES.
THAT’S GOING TO IMPROVE
EFFICIENCY.
WE ARE GREATLY INCREASING THE
AMOUNT OF POINT OF CARE TESTS TO
TAKE THE LOAD OFF OF THAT.
YOU’VE SEEN A SURGE TEST IN ALL
THESE HOTSPOT AREAS.
THOSE HOTSPOT AREAS GET A SURGE
TEAM WITH AN INDEPENDENT TESTING
GROUP TO PROVIDE 60,000 OR SO
TESTS A DAY.
AND THOSE BIG COMMERCIAL LABS,
THE AVERAGE TURNAROUND TIME IS
4.2 DAYS.
SOME STATES ARE MORE THAN THAT,
SOME STATES ARE LESS.
NONE OF US ARE GOING TO BE HAPPY
UNLESS THAT’S UNDER 48 HOURS.
BUT WE’RE MAKING ALL OUR EFFORTS
TO DO THAT, AND REALLY MAKING
SURE THAT THE SURGE STATES WHERE
WE’RE SEEING SO MANY CASES AND
OUR NURSING HOMES AND OUR
HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS GET RAPID
TURNAROUND OF THOSE TESTS.
>> THE AVERAGE MAY BE AS LOW AS
YOU SAY, OBVIOUSLY THOSE ARE THE
NUMBERS THAT YOU’VE GOT, BUT
WHAT WE’RE HEARING FROM PEOPLE
IS, AS LONG AS, AS I SAY, TWO
WEEKS IN SOME OF THESE AREAS.
IS THERE ANY WAY TO TARGET THOSE
AREAS, THOSE HOTSPOTS MORE
EFFICIENTLY?
>> SURE.
SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN I SAY AN
AVERAGE, THERE’S AN AVERAGE AND
A RANGE AROUND THAT.
EVEN IN THE BIG LABS, THERE ARE
OUTLIERS WHERE WE DO SEE, FOR
REASONS WE DON’T UNDERSTAND, A
FEW PEOPLE WAITING THAT LONG.
THERE COULD ALSO BE SMALL LABS
IN CERTAIN AREAS THAT ARE NOT ON
OUR RADAR SCREEN BUT HAVE THOSE
LONG TURNAROUNDS.
BUT WE WORK INDIVIDUALLY EVERY
SINGLE DAY, I LOOK AT EVERY
SINGLE STATE’S DATA.
WE WORK COMMUNITY BY COMMUNITY
TO TRY TO DECREASE THAT.
AGAIN, WE’VE SURGED POINT OF
CARE TESTING TO PLACES TO REDUCE
THAT TIME.
AND OUR BIG SURGE TESTING, WE’RE
IN JACKSONVILLE, WE’RE IN MIAMI
RIGHT NOW, PHOENIX, BATON ROUGE.
WE’RE LOOKING AT A COUPLE OF
MORE SITES NOW WHERE WE BRING IN
SURGE CAPACITY WHILE THE BIG
COMMERCIAL LABS ARE RAMPING UP
THEIR CAPABILITY WITH POOLING.
IT’S A REALLY COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM
BUT WE ARE MAKING SURE THAT OUR
MOST VULNERABLE, LIKE NURSING
HOMES, THE PEOPLE IN THE
HOSPITALS, AND OUR HOTSPOT
AREAS, BRING THAT TIME DOWN TO
AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, GIVEN THE
UNPRECEDENTED DEMAND.
LOOK, WE’RE ALL GOING TO BE
WORKING HARD ON THIS.
AGAIN, 770,000 TESTS A DAY.
WE WILL BUILD THAT NUMBER AND WE
WILL REDUCE OUR TURNAROUND.
BUT YOU ARE RIGHT, WE ARE TRYING
TO REDUCE THAT AS MUCH AS
POSSIBLE TO IMPROVE OUR CONTACT
TRACING AND TRACKING.
>> IS THE BACKLOG ON THE SUPPLY
LINES FOR THE SUPPLIES THAT YOU
NEED ACTUALLY TO PROCESS THE
TESTS?
>> SO IT’S A GOOD QUESTION.
AND I’LL ANSWER A COUPLE OF
WAYS.
OUR SORT OF THINGS YOU HEARD
ABOUT EARLY IN THE OUTBREAK LIKE
SWABS AND TUBES OF MEDIA, WE’VE
GOT THAT PRETTY MUCH UNDER
CONTROL.
THE STATES LITERALLY TELL US
WHAT THEY WANT EVERY MONTH AND
WE PROVIDE THAT EVERY WEEK TO
THE STATES IN THE QUANTITIES
THAT THEY NEED.
SO THAT WAS JUST AN ENORMOUS
ISSUE UNTIL WE GOT OUR SUPPLY
CHAINS, IMPROVED OUR
DISTRIBUTION, DID DPA ACT TO GET
THAT.
IN TERMS OF REAGENTS WHICH THE
LABORATORIES ACTUALLY USE, WE
HAVE THE CAPABILITY RIGHT NOW TO
DO ALL THE TESTS THAT ARE BEING
ORDERED.
BUT NOT EVERY STATE OR EVERY LAB
CAN GET THE PRECISE REAGENT THEY
WANT.
THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO BE
FLEXIBLE, BECAUSE THERE’S A
WHOLE ECOSYSTEM OF REAGENTS, AND
WE HELP DIRECT THAT.
SO IT IS GOING TO BE TIGHT, IT
WILL CONTINUE TO BE TIGHT AS WE
OPEN UP THE REAGENTS, ALL THAT
DEMAND WILL BE TAKEN.
BUT AGAIN, WE DO SEE BY
SEPTEMBER, WE WILL HAVE THE
CAPABILITY, EVEN WITHOUT
POOLING, OF DOING SOMEWHERE IN
THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF 65 MILLION
TESTS PER MONTH.
AND IF WE DO DO POOLING, THAT
NUMBER GOES UP QUITE A BIT.
AGAIN, I’M NOT PAINTING A ROSY
PICTURE, NOBODY’S DECLARING
VICTORY.
THIS IS THE FIGHT OF OUR
GENERATION.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE DOING
THESE THINGS TO IMPROVE OUR
TESTING CAPABILITY WHILE WE
ENFORCE THE MOST IMPORTANT
THINGS, THIS.
WE CANNOT TEST OUR WAY OUT OF
THIS.
WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO THOSE
MEASURES LIKE WEARING A MASK,
AVOIDING INDOOR CROWDING SPACES,
HAND HYGIENE.
THAT’S THE WAY TO GET THIS UNDER
CONTROL AND WE NEED EVERYBODY’S
COOPERATION TO DO THAT.
>> WHY WOULDN’T IT BE HELPFUL TO
HAVE A MANDATE, A NATIONAL
MANDATE FOR TESTS?
EXCUSE ME, A NATIONAL MANDATE
FOR MASKS.
>> SO I’M A PUBLIC HEALTH
PERSON.
I’M NOT THE ELECTED POLICY
OFFICIALS.
BUT LET ME REINFORCE SOMETHING.
PARTICULARLY IF YOU’RE IN A HOT
AREA, ONE OF THOSE HOT STATES OR
INCREASING STATES, WE REALLY
NEED 90 PLUS PERCENT OF PEOPLE
TO BE WEARING MASKS WHEN THEY’RE
IN PUBLIC.
WE KNOW THAT IF YOU AVOID BARS,
IF YOU MINIMIZE TO A LOWER
DEGREE THE AMOUNT OF CAPACITY IN
A RESTAURANT, AND 90 PLUS
PERCENT OF PEOPLE WEAR A MASK
AND WASH THEIR HANDS, WE COULD
ABSOLUTELY TURN THE CURVE.
LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN
PHOENIX, DRAMATIC CHANGE OVER A
VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
WE’RE SEEING MASK WEARING GOING
UP AROUND THE COUNTRY.
BUT, YOU KNOW, HOWEVER IT’S DONE
BY THE LOCAL AUTHORITIES, WE
SUPPORT THAT, MANDATE
ENCOURAGEMENT.
FROM A PUBLIC HEALTH STANDPOINT, MYSELF, THE SURGEON GENERAL, ALL
MYSELF, THE SURGEON GENERAL, ALL
OF US, DR. BIRX, DR. FAUCI, WE
IMPLORE EVERYONE.
THE HAIRSTYLISTS THAT WERE
REPORTED, THEY TOOK CARE OF 139
CLIENTS, AT LEAST 15 MINUTES
EACH.
BOTH OF THEM WERE MASKED, BOTH
THE CLIENT AND THE HAIRSTYLIST.
NOT A SINGLE CASE.
IF THERE ISN’T SOMETHING MORE
COMPELLING THAT’S A GOOD EXAMPLE
TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, I DON’T
KNOW WHAT IT IS.