"will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal."
Live-tweeting starts at 10AM.
help.senate.gov/hearings/covid…
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This is the committee chaired by Rep Jim Clyburn and we will hear testimony from:
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courthousenews.com/south-carolina…
He said this to the House on March 11 and argued that the pandemic would likely worsen in America with the continued delayed response and/or inadequate testing.
Background: courthousenews.com/infectious-dis…
He said this to the House on March 12 as he discussed how the U.S. just simply did not have the capacity required to conduct widespread testing from the jump.
Background: courthousenews.com/us-failing-on-…
Those present will be six-feet apart but the chairman, Senator Lamar Alexander, R-TN, will be video-conferenced in along with witnesses.
First up, Dr. Anthony Fauci:
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File under: Surreal.
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The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has begun today's hearing.
I will live-tweet for @CourthouseNews and will have a full report for you later.
Anyone in Tennessee who needs a test can get one, he adds.
The state has so far tested 4% of its population and he says the guv there is on track to test up to 7% soon.
Another proposal not yet approved by the FDA is a "sort of lollipop sponge" Senator Alexander says.
A view from @cspan of how business is being conducted in the Senate committee, 70+ days since the pandemic gripped the US
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He also wants to focus on the next pandemic "which we know is coming."
How can we keep hospitals afloat/production lines etc
"Families across the country are counting on us for the truth about the Covid-19 pandemic, especially since it is not clear that they will get it from President Trump."
"Delays, missteps have put us way behind where we need to be on diagnostic tests."
courthousenews.com/virus-vaccine-…
We need far more PPE than has been available to healthcare workers on the frontlines and we'll need far more for other workers as we reopen.
The administration must step up and get equipment to states, she says.
What good is a bridge that only gets you to the middle of the river? We don't need to wait around and see if people need more help. We know they do. - Sen. @PattyMurray
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Dr. Fauci, director of NIAID, speaks first.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of CDC goes next.
Admiral Brett Giroir follows.
Then FDA commish Stephen Hahn
With regard to diagnostics: the NIH has developed rapid acceleration of diagnostic programs and half a billion $ will go toward development of Covid-19 diagnostics,.
It's a "shark tank-like" selection process to get to success or failure rapidly, he says.
Convalescent plasma from recovered Covid-19 patients is being considered broadly.
Re: remdesivir placebo control trial at sites throughout the world - it was in hospitalized patients with lung disease. The result was significant but modest, he says.
We need to remain vigilant with social distancing, he adds.
Quidel predicts 300K tests per day in just a few weeks, Giroir says. Notably, Trump said yesterday that ramp up would be next week.
Ideally, we'd have the ability for schools to test. But says that 25M point of care tests will be available per month by that point.
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Fauci: The consequences could be really serious.
"Many people may have died at home who had Covid-19 but were not counted," Fauci says. "I think you are correct. The % higher but almost certainly it is higher."
But he hopes between now and then, given increased testing capability and our ability to stock up on PPE + workforce CDC will put forth to ID/isolate/trace..
Fauci says "no one told to pull back on the development of any countermeasure or research measure involved"
Fauci says given what we know about most infectious disease, when you have antibody present, it very likely indicates a degree of protection but its a degree of semantics too he says
It is likely that it is, but also, Fauci says, what is the degree or type of antibody that gives you that level of protection and what is the durability?
"I've never made myself out to be the end-all. I give advice according to the best scientific evidence."
"There are a number of other people that come into this and give advice about the need to reopen the country or the economy. I don't give advice about the economy. I give advice about public health."
Fauci: "You said we should be humble about what we don't know. We don't know everything about this virus and we better be careful, especially with children."
"We better not be cavalier thinking children are immune to the deleterious effects," Fauci says.
They are.
Murphy notes how they, himself included, get paid, telework while millions of Americans can't and are paid by the hour.
Sen. Murphy calls the Trump admin reopening guidance "criminally vague."
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Why didn't this plan get released? When will it be released? States are opening now. We need this additional guidance.
Redfield says the information is under review and coming.
The CDC stands by the technical assistance it has provided to Sen. Murphy's states and others, Redfield adds before also noting the guidance will be published "soon."
Hahn and Fauci confirm children not to be considered in testing for Phase II treatment trials.
Hahn says talks underway between FDA/NIH on how to navigate.
"Do I think we have it totally under control? No... I think we are going in the right direction but going in the right direction does not mean total control over the situation."
What other countermeasures we can take beyond social distancing, wider spread testing?
We're 16 wks from Labor Day, the same length of time since virus first detected in US
Fauci: Right now, the prediction as you heard from Giroir in regard to testing, that by the time we get to the end of summer early fall we will have [more testing] in place.
Fauci: Of course, if you don't do an adequate response, we will have a deleterious experience of more deaths.
He continues:
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Giroir points to rapid testing that already exists at public and CDC labs in Kansas.
Sen Roberts: "If it takes an hour to get a test, I don't knowhow that is rapid."
Eighty thousand Americans have died from Covid-19 in just over 70 days, but things will only get worse, Dr. Anthony #Fauci said Tuesday in remarks to the Senate, if the country rushes its return to normalcy.
courthousenews.com/rushing-back-w…
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Facilities there are limited, geography is challenging.
"We don't want to be a hotspot in Alaska"
adn.com/alaska-news/20…
Keeping vigilant, providing tests is vital. Murkowski wants to know what else can be done for communities who are not yet hotspots safe?
Giroir commends entry isolation tactics for those who come into the state; but acknowledges the difficulty in providing tests to remote locations.
Murkowski says their plans for contact tracing in Alaska are still not efficient.
What more needs to be done to make sure once you've been tested positive you know what happens after that? Who else needs to be brought in?
Redfield: It will be state by state but it will probably need to be augmented and it needs to get in place before September.
"Testing capacity has to be flexible enough to meet our needs,' she says.
Fauci says there should be system but testing everyone at each facility every day may not be practical. But...
"Testing every day would not be feasible but something that is much more aggressive than it has been in the past must be done."
How are you doing?
Fauci: I'm doing fine and I enjoy very much working with your senators and governors. It's at the local level that we will make this thing work.
She felt sick on April 11, and within 10 days she asked to go home. She paid $115 for a test and was confirmed positive.
Two weeks ago Trump deployed DPA to keep plants open but skimped on guidance of how to keep these workers safe.
What do we do, Smith asks Fauci
Those who are performing essential services, Fauci says, it's "almost a moral obligation" to provide protection for them
"I understand politicians are going to frame data that helps them politically, I wouldn't expect that from admirals," he says to Admiral Giroir, effectively slamming Giroir for his claim that U.S. testing record is worth celebrating.
Fauci: No not at all. Not Obama nor President Trump are responsible for us not having a vaccine. We moved rather rapidly from knowing what the virus was to a phase 1 trial as fast we have done.
Redfield says Congress has added $ for data monitoring and they're in the process of updating an "archaic" system
Using that data in terms of quarantine plans is crucial for everything from child care facilities to hotels that could be used for isolation. How is the plan being developed by CDC?
Redfield: To be prepared for the fall and winter, CDC is working individually with leadership at state and local health departments to help CDC understand what their capacity needs are.
Each group will construct a contact tracing piece based on what they think their needs are.
Updated story available here: courthousenews.com/rushing-back-w…
And my many thanks to my colleague @JackRodgersCNS for the contribution and assist today.