Azar just released a delusional, alternative history of Covid testing in the US. Iām mad because our testing failures allowed this outbreak to blow-up. We canāt fix our system if we ignore where it is broken. I suspect @PublicHealth agrees.
My fact-check on remarks @HHSGov š§µ
āIt is indisputable that the United States has built the most extensive testing system and strategy of any major country,ā says Azar.
False. Several countries have had percent positivity ~1% whereas US has never been below 5% and is >10% today. Refs KCDC & USA @JohnsHopkins
"The federal government got out of the way of test development in safe and sensible ways,ā says Azar.
False. In Feb, CDC & FDA blocked labs from testing as the disease spread exponentially. I broke this storyšš¼& wrote more like it as the year wore on.
Azar defends questions about why the CDC refused an early German test vetted & distributed by WHO, by saying it was āunapprovedā & beneath us.
False. Top US researchers in my stories vetted several tests as early as Feb,& found that the one recommended by WHO was ideal.
Azar refuses to concede that other countries handled Covid better. He attributes Koreas success to less travel, invasiveness & private sector.
False. Korea's gov't marshaled the private sector & tracing success was largely from hiring tons of tracers.