GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander stresses U.S. needs 'millions' more coronavirus tests after Trump declares 'we have prevailed'

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) during a Senate hearing Tuesday again said the United States has not done "nearly enough" on coronavirus testing, despite President Trump's assertion that the country has already "prevailed."

Alexander, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, spoke at the top of a hearing on Tuesday and reiterated his previous statement that while "what our country has done so far on testing is impressive," it's "not nearly enough." In Tennessee, he said testing levels are "sufficient" to begin an initial phase of sending Americans back to work but that beyond that, much more will be required.

"The more tests we conduct, the better we can identify those who are sick and exposed," Alexander said. "Then we can quarantine the sick and exposed instead of trying to to quarantine the whole country. In my opinion, this will require millions of new tests, many from new technologies." Later, he again stressed the need for "widespread testing."

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During a press conference on Monday touting the United States' coronavirus testing levels, Trump claimed that the U.S. has "prevailed" on testing despite not yet meeting the number of daily tests experts have called for. Trump said that about 300,000 tests are being conducted daily, promising this number will "go up substantially." Brendan Morrow