U.S. expert says COVID-19 testing is 'failing'

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, says the U.S. system for COVID-19 testing is failing.

"The system is not really geared to what we need right now."

Testing for the virus in the U.S. has been plagued with issues. The country needs more diagnostic kits and experts say the U.S. needs to test more people.

The AP reports that without large-scale testing and enough resources for treatment, the U.S. healthcare system could be overwhelmed with undetected cases.

The U.S. currently has at least 1,268 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

It's unclear how many people are being screened. Some tests are being done by private facilities that are not reporting results to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The U.S. response to COVID-19 has been slow compared to some countries in Asia and Europe. According to the BBC, South Korea is testing almost 20,000 people every day. In the UK more than 1,000 people are being tested daily.

U.S. President Trump announced more measures to contain the outbreak in an emergency declaration Friday afternoon.

(CGTN)