Fauci calls U.S. coronavirus testing delays "totally unacceptable"

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."