Mitt Romney says US coronavirus testing numbers is 'nothing to celebrate'

From all the countries affected by the pandemic, the United States has taken the hardest hit in the number of cases and deaths. As the White House recently boasted about being ahead in numbers in terms of coronavirus testing, Utah Senator Mitt Romney felt otherwise.

Politico reports that Romney criticized the Trump administration as well as its White House testing czar for boasting about the number of tests the United States has conducted. The Republican lawmaker continued to criticize the White House testing czar, Admiral Brett Giroir of the U.S. Public Health Service, for playing politics in this situation.

During a Senate hearing, Romney told Giroir that it is to be expected from politicians to depict the data in such a way that is positive in a political sense but he did not expect that from someone in Giroir’s position. Romney also cited what happened the previous day, where Giroir boasted about the United States surpassing the testing numbers per capita in South Korea. The South Korean government’s response to the pandemic was highly praised all over the world.

“You ignored the fact that they accomplished theirs at the beginning of the outbreak, while we treaded water during February and March and as a result, by March 6 the U.S. had completed just 2,000 tests, whereas South Korea had conducted more than 140,000 tests,” said Romney.

The Utah Senator continued to criticize the Trump administration’s slow response in terms of testing and even mentioned how the death toll in South Korea has only gone up to 250 while the United States has over 82,000 deaths as of today. Thus, Romney said that the country’s testing record is not something to boast about.

Aside from the White House’s coronavirus testing czar, Romney also spoke to the top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci. Romney expressed his surprise upon hearing President Donald Trump’s claim that his predecessor, President Barack Obama, was to blame for the lack of coronavirus vaccine. The Senator asked Dr. Fauci if Obama or Trump was to blame for the absence of a vaccine or the delay of the development of a vaccine. Dr. Fauci responded that neither president was responsible.