Pallone: Trump Is 'Abandoning' Developing Widespread Testing

MATAWAN, NJ — On Monday, New Jersey Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone — who represents Woodbridge and all along the Raritan Bayshore — sent a letter to the White House, accusing President Trump of "abandoning" helping individual states come up with widespread coronavirus testing in his quest to reopen the United States.

Pallone sent the letter Monday to federal Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx. In it, Pallone said the Trump administration "appears to be abandoning" developing a national testing plan. You can read Pallone's letter to Dr. Brix here.

This "could lead to a resurgence of the coronavirus outbreak as President Trump pushes to relax social distancing rules," said Pallone.

Pallone said it is ultimately Trump administration's responsibility to help states come up with widespread coronavirus testing, including antibody testing. (The World Health Organization cautioned three days ago that antibody testing does not prove immunity.) Gov. Phil Murphy has similarly echoed this call for universal testing before opening New Jersey back up.

As Patch was first to report, the Edison Motor Vehicle Inspection Center test site rolled out a new saliva test for coronavirus/COVID-19 just last week. This is the first test in the nation that uses one's saliva instead of a nasal swab, and it was developed by genetics researchers at Rutgers. It promises results within 24 to 48 hours.

New Jersey Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli has said the spit-and-seal test "has the potential for mass testing," and the White House called the Rutgers researchers last week, asking how the testing could go nationwide. The test was also given emergency approval by the Food & Drug Administration.

However, right now — in New Jersey, and the rest of the nation — people are only tested for coronavirus if they are symptomatic for the illness. Pallone said he is is worried this could leave thousands, if not million of people who are not symptomatic to spread the virus.

CDC guidelines still suggest that only those who are symptomatic be tested.

Currently, only about one percent of the nation’s population has been tested for coronavirus/COVID-19.

“As President Trump continues to push for relaxing social distancing guidelines and quickly reopening society, I am increasingly concerned about the lack of widespread testing in the United States, and what the ramifications will be if social distancing efforts are prematurely eased without robust testing in place to detect the spread of COVID-19,” Pallone wrote to Dr. Birx.

“Instead of showing leadership, competence, and vision in a time of crisis, it appears the Trump Administration is abdicating its responsibility and forcing states and communities to fend for themselves and find their own way out of this pandemic,” Pallone continued.

Pallone is a Democratic congressman who has represented New Jersey's Sixth Congressional district since 1998. "NJ 6" stretches from Carteret and Woodbridge into Edison, New Brunswick and down to Asbury Park. It hugs the Bayshore coastline, including towns such as Aberdeen, Matawan, Hazlet, Sea Bright and West Long Branch.

In his letter, Pallone requested that Dr. Birx get back to him by April 24 with answers to the following questions:

• The Administration’s plans for expanding testing and revising guidance on social distancing and reopening the economy.
• What diagnostic testing capacity is sufficient to reopen the economy and how does the Administration plan to reach that capacity?
• What are the Administration’s current estimates for the daily amount of tests it will have the capacity to administer by May 1 and then monthly thereafter through December 2020?
• What is the Administration’s plan to ensure expand access to serological tests (antibody blood tests)? (Note: There is no scientific evidence that antibody tests show immunity to COVID-19.)