The United States did not have the information it needed to be prepared for the quickly advancing "tsunami" of the novel coronavirus, and there will likely be a number of actions take to be sure that it doesn't happen again, former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David Shulkin told Newsmax TV Tuesday.
"I think when we look back, the fact that we were not prepared for the diagnostic testing will turn out to be the big mistake we made," Shulkin said on Newsmax TV's "Spicer & Co."
Shulkin pointed out that the first case of coronavirus showed up in the United States on the same day one appeared in South Korea, but the countries' responses were much different.
"South Korea implemented widespread diagnostic testing almost immediately," Shulkin said. "They've been able to contain this. Their mortality rate is less than 1%."
But now, the U.S. government is acting "unbelievably swiftly," while getting rapid approvals on tests and medications, Shulkin said, and he's "very grateful for the response."
"When we look back in January and February, those are the times that we can just look at each day was a wasted day, not having the information, not asking the private sector for the right help, not realizing, that this thing was coming upon us like a tsunami," he added. "Unfortunately, now some communities are really paying the heavy price for that."
Shulkin, appearing on the program with author Seth Denson, also said he does not agree with a VA decision that it would not administer the COVID-19 test to any non-veteran staff members, even doctors or nurses.
"This is an example where the VA just has to cut through the bureaucracy do the right thing," said Shulkin. "Of course, we need doctors and nurses who work in VA facilities to be tested. That's how we keep them safe that's how we keep our veterans safe."
Denson, meanwhile, said it is "easy to Monday-morning quarterback" the government's response to the virus, but the focus, for now, should be to get more people tested under the care they need.
"We didn't learn from H1N1 in 2009 and those chickens are coming home to roost in this situation today," he commented.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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