A doctorโs no-holds-barred analysis of coronavirus testing shortcomings is going viral โ not just because of his blunt talk but because of where he made his case: live on Fox News.
Dr. Rishi Desai, chief medical officer of the Osmosis website, vigorously shook his head โnoโ as Fox News host Martha MacCallum mentioned, as President Donald Trump has, that there were supposed to be millions of tests available. She also said people were still waiting for a quick test for COVID-19.
Desai responded with a fact-check.
โYeah, theyโre working on it,โ he said. โThey shouldโve been working on it for months.โ
Desai noted that the World Health Organization had issued a warning about the virus on Dec. 31, 2019.
โWe knew coronavirus was coming, we knew that it was a respiratory disease, we knew it was person-to-person,โ he said.
Yet itโs only now that the FDA approved a 15-minute test and even it has shortcomings. Then, Desai explained how South Korea was able to get ahead of the situation by testing early and often.
โLook at what South Korea did, and what we did,โ he said. โTheir population is one-sixth of ours. Look at the cases they have. Look at the mortality they have. Itโs a trifle compared to what weโre dealing with right now because weโve had a very weak response and they had a really strong response.โ
MacCallum wrapped up the segment:
In the longer interview on the Fox News website, Desai also called for a nationwide shutdown.
โWe would see a drop off in cases within two weeks,โ he said. โWithin two weeks, the number of cases would start to fall, and the entire country would breathe a sigh of relief.โ
Desai quickly found a new fanbase as his name trended on Twitter:
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