WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — The U.S. Senate on Tuesday listened to advice from some of the nation’s top scientists and doctors on how Americans can start returning to normal life.
In the historic virtual Senate hearing, the health experts testified on reopening the U.S. economy.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warned a COVID-19 vaccine won’t be ready before children return to school in the fall.
“I think we better be very careful we are not cavalier in thinking that children are completely immune,” he said.
Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen said Democrats want to fix the economy.
“Ultimately, to make this happen we have to build confidence in our visitors that it’s safe,” Rosen said.
Frustrated Democrats like Washington Senator Patty Murray said say safety isn’t the top priority of the Trump administration.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spent weeks developing a detailed guide to help our communities understand how to safely reopen when the time comes—the Trump administration tossed it in the trash bin,” Murray said.
Utah Senator Mitt Romney also questioned the administration’s response.
“By March 6, the U.S. had completed just 2,000 tests whereas South Korea had conducted more than 140,000 tests,” he said. “So partially as a result of that they have 256 deaths and we have almost 80,000 deaths.”
However, the Republican senator said the administration is doing other positive work.
“On vaccines: we’ve done a pretty darn good job on moving ahead pretty aggressively,” Romney said.
Meanwhile, top U.S. health experts say we need more testing, social distance and face coverings in public.
