NBC’S Dr Dave Campbell: U.S Economy Is ‘Not Reopening Anytime Soon’

NBC chief medical correspondent Dr. Dave Campbell has said the U.S. will not be reopening in the near future, due in part to a lack of testing availability. Campbell, wearing a lab coat, spoke to Morning Joe‘s Joe Scarborough as new details emerge about the Trump administration’s slow response to the pandemic.

“I want you to tell us, along with every other doctor we’ve talked to, and every other politician we have talked to, can the United States economy get restarted in full, can American workers go back to work?” Scarborough asked.

“Can small business reopen and save themselves, save their family businesses, can students go back to school if we continue to fly blind and don’t have widespread testing?”

“No. Of course not. And we know that,” Campbell said. “We even know that this hope, that this is going away in the summer and will re-surge in the fall, is false hope. We’re already in mid-April. The people who are sick today and going in the hospital will be there for several weeks.”

“We do not have adequate testing, certainly not in Palm Beach county, and absolutely not across the country. We don’t have adequate viral testing. We don’t have adequate antibody testing.”

“There are lots of steps that could happen where the federal government, Secretary Azar, if he had his way, could have accelerated the response. We could have more testing, whether it’s for the virus or for the antibodies. We could be preparing better to reopen the economy, how about to reopen doctor’s offices, how about reopen surgery centers so you can have your hip replacement? You’re not going to have that any time soon, Joe.”

“The short answer that you asked is, no, we’re not reopening any time soon. And when we do, it will be this phased, rolling back of, not normalcy, but how about just acceptability for the new, local, federal, and state way that we have to govern ourselves and live our lives.”

Watch the video above, via MSNBC.