Lawmakers voiced frustration and confusion coming out of a briefing Thursday about testing for the novel COVID-19 coronavirus in the United States.
In a briefing for members of Congress, officials "acknowledged that the U.S. system is trying to catch up to other countries like South Korea" when it comes to testing, CNN's Manu Raju reports. There have reportedly been about 11,000 tests conducted in the U.S., whereas South Korea has been conducting about 10,000 every day.
"I don't think anyone is going to leave that briefing satisfied with what's going on with testing right now," Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) told CNN. "Bottom line, you leave that briefing and we are not where we need to be and not sure when we are going to get there. We are flying blind."
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Quigley also said officials told lawmakers "we don't have a system that works like it does in other countries to adequately test at this time." When Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) was asked if she was satisfied with the amount of testing in the U.S., she said, "No."
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) also voiced frustration to CNN, saying, "I think everyone leaving that briefing is feeling more confused than ever and disappointed in the numbers that we heard." And Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.) told CNN's Haley Byrd after the briefing there's "a growing frustration among members as a whole to get more definitive answers" about coronavirus testing.
Not all lawmakers were even willing to speak to reporters after the briefing, though. Politico's Kyle Cheney writes, "Lot of clearly fake phone calls among lawmakers exiting coronavirus briefing who don't want to talk about it."
