Mark McClellan and Scott Gottlieb write that Congress has “no time to lose” in building public health capacity.
Two former FDA commissioners, both with bipartisan credibility, are working with lawmakers on a framework to gradually restart the economy — as long as the country builds an ample testing and disease surveillance system to rapidly diagnose coronavirus, isolate infected people and effectively quarantine their close contacts.
Mark McClellan and Scott Gottlieb foresee a need for a vast expansion of the United States’ public health system that would require hiring and training thousands of new workers to bolster coronavirus surveillance. Their paper,exclusively obtained by POLITICO, also cautions that antibody testing is not a panacea to determine if individuals can return to the workplace; scientists need to learn more about the virus — and how much immunity people have once they’ve been infected.
“There is no time to lose,” they wrote. “Building these capabilities now will accelerate our ability to assure the public’s safety — the foundation for a sustainable and secure approach to reopening our communities.” Continue reading.