Expert Tells US Congress that Coronavirus Fight Could last Years

By Staff, Agencies

A top health expert warned American lawmakers Wednesday to brace for a "long and difficult" war against the coronavirus outbreak, as he urged dramatically expanding testing to rein in the pandemic.

Tom Frieden, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Obama administration, said the government must prepare better to enable it defeat the virus that has ravaged much of the world.

"Until we have an effective vaccine, unless something unexpected happens, our viral enemy will be with us for many months or years," Frieden told a House health panel, in the first congressional hearing addressing the federal response to the pandemic.

"As bad as this has been so far, we're just at the beginning," added Frieden, who spearheaded the US response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and heads a global health initiative, Resolve to Save Lives.

The United States has a world-leading 1.2 million confirmed coronavirus infections, and more than 71,500 deaths.

The death toll was on track to top 100,000 by the end of May, particularly if the response is not substantially boosted, warned Frieden, who like lawmakers often wore a mask when he wasn't speaking.

"The bottom line is that our war against COVID-19 will be long and difficult," he said.

Trump administration officials have yet to publicly testify before Congress about the government's pandemic response.

America’s top infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci is scheduled to testify before a Senate health committee next Tuesday alongside the CDC's current director, Robert Redfield.

Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus taskforce, was barred from appearing before the Democratic-led House by Trump, who has admitted the move was political.

Rick Bright, an administration vaccine director who was ousted for opposing an unproven coronavirus treatment pushed by Trump, is now expected to testify before a House health subcommittee next week.