Thread by @amymaxmen

Azar just released a delusional, alternative history of Covid testing in the US. I’m mad because our testing failures allowed this outbreak to blow-up. We can’t fix our system if we ignore where it is broken. I suspect @PublicHealth agrees.

My fact-check on remarks @HHSGov 🧵

“It is indisputable that the United States has built the most extensive testing system and strategy of any major country,” 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,” says Azar.

False. In Feb, CDC & FDA blocked labs from testing as the disease spread exponentially. I broke this story👇🏼& wrote more like it as the year wore on. nature.com/articles/d4158…

Azar defends questions about why the CDC refused an early German test vetted & distributed by WHO, by saying it was ‘unapproved’ & 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. nature.com/articles/d4158…

Here's a nugget of truth. The FDA held back academic labs from testing, and have been unclear. Researchers testing like @srikosuri @UrnovFyodor may be interested in this part of the discussion.

Azar asserts "There is a myth out there that, if only we’d had a superior testing system, we simply could have caught any cases and isolated them."

False (except for it being simple). Any outbreak specialist tells you that early days matter most. That's THE time for containment.

I need to get back to work but the speech goes on. I'll try to return to this later. In the meantime, here's my piece with @jefftollef about testing failures and why they matter so much. nature.com/articles/d4158…

CONTINUED. Azar thanks the private sector for reaching hard-hit communities & not grassroots organizations that have been absolutely essential (eg my piece on @RootsEmpowers 👇🏼). Azar says public sector couldn't do this, further undermining their power. nature.com/articles/d4158…

"The United States needs a federal testing strategy, which we have," Azar says. False.

He then goes on to concede that maybe there could be a "more prescriptive federal role about how testing is used." As in surveillance vs diagnostic. I agree & hope Biden's team does this.

Azar says rapid tests would have been impossible in the early days of the pandemic "because of the technological development that had to happen."

FALSE. We have technology for the quick development of rapid tests. See @sabeti_lab @RanuDhillon or nature.com/articles/d4158…

Ah, and here, 8 paragraphs to the end is a kernel of truth that seems to negate Azar's absurd defense that more testing wouldn't have helped. FIN.