GOP Sen. Alexander: Only Solution For Recovery Is Testing

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee member Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) listens to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar testify during a hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill February 25, 2020 in Washington, DC. Even as it has slashed its 2021 budget proposal for the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health and other crucial programs, HHS is asking Congress for a $2.5 billion emergency supplemental to prepare for the growing global threat of coronavirus. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Tennessee GOP Senator Lamar Alexander said the only solution for economic recovery is testing for coronavirus. The White House continues to encourage states to reopen despite the fact that testing is limited.

“The only solution is test, trace, isolate, treatments and vaccines,” Alexander said.

The death toll from coronavirus in the U.S. is nearly 80,000 as of Sunday morning with more than twelve thousand fatalities in the last week.

US coronavirus deaths:

10 wks ago: 1 death
9 wks ago: 19 deaths
8 wks ago: 58 deaths
7 wks ago: 323 deaths
6 wks ago: 2,043 deaths
5 wks ago: 8,488 deaths
4 wks ago: 20,604 deaths
3 wks ago: 38,903 deaths
2 wks ago: 53,789 deaths
1 wk ago: 66,369 deaths
Right now: 78,794 deaths
— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) May 10, 2020

Alexander echoed the comments of Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House task force who said the U.S. needs a breakthrough in testing.

And one test that’s just been approved could be “a game changer.” according to Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the FDA. Gottlieb appeared on the CBS News program “Face the Nation.”

ANALYSIS: @ScottGottliebMD on @US_FDA emergency approval for the first #COVID19 antigen test – a rapid test used in a doctor’s office: “it’s a real game changer,” he tells @margbrennan on @facethenation pic.twitter.com/N9OALwZPP3
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) May 10, 2020

The antigen test is conducted in a doctors office using a nasal swab and the results can be obtained in 5 minutes. According to Dr. Gottlieb, they are 85% accurate.