Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Newsmax TV's "Newsmax Now" on Thursday that the U.S. needs to step up testing for the coronavirus to prevent the country from becoming “like Italy,” which has almost 14,000 deaths from the virus so far.
Scott, the former governor of Florida, said that when it comes to the outbreak, “step one is: every individual that can stay at home, just stay home so you won’t get infected. Step two is… get the testing system setting up.”
The senator said that the lack of widespread, readily available testing for the virus is “the thing that’s most frustrating” to him.
“You should be able to get a test if you think you have the coronavirus so you know whether you should quarantine, and whether the people you’ve been around should quarantine. So we need to have a testing system where you take the test and you find out the results [immediately,] not 10 days later.”
Scott recommended a system like “a production line” to test for the coronavirus.
“Some people don’t have the swabs they needed… some people don’t have the files, some people don’t have the reagents, some people don’t have the testing equipment” or “test kit. So, what you got to do is you have to look at it and have someone who says, ‘I’m going to make sure that each piece works.’”
He added, “Because, if you want to make sure we don’t end up like Italy, which I don’t want to end up like Italy, I want to be like South Korea or Taiwan, what you’ve got to do is you’ve got to get those tests out and make it work.”
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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