PHOENIX — An Arizona lawmaker is demanding answers from the White House after he says faulty coronavirus test kits were sent to public health officials in our state.
In a letter sent to Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, Rep. Greg Stanton says he was informed by top Maricopa County health officials that rapid diagnostic kits they received on Feb. 11 from the Centers for Disease Control were defective.
According to Stanton, this has forced local health teams to send patient samples to Atlanta to be tested by the CDC, which in turn has meant they've had to wait nearly two weeks to get test results back. He went on to call the situation "outrageous and unacceptable."
Arizona has so far seen one confirmed case of coronavirus, when a member of the Arizona State University community was diagnosed last month. The man, who was diagnosed shortly after returning from travel to Wuhan, China, was released from isolation within the last week and is now fully recovered, according to a statement from ASU.
A spokesperson for Stanton said he is asking for "a complete and thorough explanation regarding what steps the Administration will take to ensure this doesn’t happen again."