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NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta on Wednesday that it is "totally unacceptable" that Gupta was unable to test a patient for the coronavirus before operating on them.
Why it matters: Mass delays in coronavirus test results across the U.S. have thwarted mitigation efforts recommended by public health experts, per the New York Times. In absence of a federal plan, a bipartisan group of governors on Tuesday proposed one of the country's first interstate testing strategies.
Driving the news: Fauci's comments follow President Trump's claim to Axios that it's possible to "test too much" — a view that no experts have advocated.
- The U.S. is conducting more than 800,000 tests per day, on average, and has administered over 58.2 million tests in total.
- But the country's increased testing is still not enough to keep up with demand.
What he's saying: "You are a real-world example of why we've got to do better. I mean, to say, and I know, I've been in situations like that. I can get things done medically so fast it'll spin your head," Fauci said.
- "There you were in the operating room having to put on PPE because you didn't know if your patient — I mean for me that is totally unacceptable, and for me to say anything different is distorting reality."