Top government infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that increased coronavirus testing capacity will prevent another sustained outbreak and possibly allow for eased economic restrictions in some areas of the country.
“If we do the kind of testing that we’re doing … and you find after a period of time that there are areas that are very different from other areas of the country, you may not want to essentially treat it as one force for the entire country, but look at flexibility in different areas,” Fauci said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing.
A large share of the nation’s economy has ground to a halt as the coronavirus outbreak has ramped up, but President Trump said Tuesday that he would “love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter,” 19 days away. Fauci, who has cautioned in the past that the public may need to self-isolate for several more weeks, said that Trump’s 19-day period is “flexible” and may not be feasible for some of the hardest-hit states and cities.
“I think people might get the misinterpretation you’re just going to lift everything up … and that’s not going to happen,” Fauci said. “What we don’t have right now that we need is we really need to know what’s going on in those areas of the country where there isn’t an obvious outbreak.”
Greater testing capacity means that more diagnostic tests can be administered to people without symptoms, which would help public health officials determine how severely different areas of the country will be affected. Areas without sustained outbreaks may not require the same restrictions as New York and California, where nonessential businesses have had to shut down until further notice.
“When you have a big outbreak, it’s tough to do anything but mitigation,” Fauci said. “We have an opportunity now. We have the availability of testing to do that.”
