Why physicians are 'extremely' angry with the CDC
Dr. Nicole Saphier discusses how tight CDC restrictions is impacting testing new patients and getting people back to work
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Health workers are "extremely angry" over old Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines that have limited the access to coronavirus testing, Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier said Wednesday.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade, Saphier -- a breast cancer imaging specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City -- said that the restrictions the CDC put in place make it hard for both doctors and patients.
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A new report in Politico showed testing in the United States down 30 percent from previous weeks.
"And if we're saying that 25 percent to 50 percent of patients can be positive for the viral infection without having symptoms, they are not going to be able to get tested because that doesn't fall in line with the CDC recommendations," she remarked.
"Here's the thing though," Saphier pointed out, "we have tested over 3 million people. We're getting an idea of how many people have been infected. We are getting a better idea of the fatality rate, which is probably going to be less than one percent compared to what we have been talking about before."
Healthcare workers wheel the body of deceased person from the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, U.S., April 2, 2020. (REUTERS/Brendan Mcdermid)
"And, to roll out opening up businesses, it's not going to be a matter of 'how many people can we test for this virus?' It's going to be: we want to look at the antibody test. We want to see how many people are potentially immune to this. And, we want to start stratifying risk to keep those people protected," she stated.
Saphier explained that there will still be some level of social distancing and preventative measures in the future when the country starts to reopen businesses. Since physicians know that one of the unique characteristics of COVID-19 is that it affects the elderly and those with certain pre-existing conditions, a "huge amount of the workforce can actually go to work" and children can potentially get back to some of their activities.
Although the older generations and those with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease, are more at risk for infection with deadly consequences, hundreds of young Americans have died of the virus.
"Now, I'm not saying that everything can just start right away because that won't work at all. We have a lot of multi-generational families, for sure," she noted. "However, now that we are really clear in those at higher risk for dying of this illness and the severe systems, we need to stratify the risk for them but also get people back to work."
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Although some GOP members remain cautious, the call to open up the nation's economy and return the country to normalcy is growing in the Republican Party. The pressure comes as President Trump has assembled a task force to explore ways to restart the country again and has mused about reopening as soon as May 1.
Democrats mostly disagree, warning that there could be yet another deadly spike in cases if health experts are ignored. There is already the predicted potential for a "second wave" of coronavirus infections come this fall.