Lack of coronavirus tests in U.S. a 'fiasco': former Ebola czar

Video Credit: Reuters Studio
Published on March 10, 2020 - Duration: 01:00s

Lack of coronavirus tests in U.S. a 'fiasco': former Ebola czar

Ron Klain, the former Ebola response coordinator for the Obama administration, on Tuesday testified on Capitol Hill to give his assessment of the U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Colette Luke has more.


Lack of coronavirus tests in U.S. a 'fiasco': former Ebola czar

Ron Klain was the man President Barack Obama tasked with overseeing the government's response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak that killed over 2,000 people globally and infected nearly 1200 more.

And on Tuesday, he was on Capitol Hill testifying before a House subcommittee to give his assessment on the U.S. response to the coronavirus outbreak.

(SOUNDBITE) RON KLAIN, OBAMA'S EBOLA RESPONSE COORDINATOR, SAYING: "The administration's decision now to go through a series of different structures.

First no task force, then a task force led by Secretary Azar, then a task force led by Vice President Pence, then Ambassador Birx coordinating the response, has produced uneven results, and certainly has contributed to the largest fiasco in the U.S. response: the failure to promptly enable widespread testing for the virus, which definitely is the result of some lack of coordination between the CDC and FDA.

There is simply no reason, none, why the United States lags behind nations like South Korea and Singapore in protecting its people."

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