US Conducts Nearly 900,000 Tests For COVID-19 - Leading Health Official

Umer Jamshaid Published March 30, 2020 | 04:10 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2020) The United States has conducted nearly 900,000 tests for COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak, Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said during a press conference alongside President Donald Trump.

"So as of the close of business yesterday, we have been able to perform in the United States over 894,000 tests," Giroir told reporters at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Sunday.

Speaking in turn, Trump added that the prevalence of testing for COVID-19 explained why the United States has become the country with the most confirmed cases of the disease.

"The reason we show more cases than anybody else in the world is we're doing more testing than anybody else in the world. So, we have more cases because we're doing far more testing than anybody in the world," the president said.

The US on Thursday overtook Italy as the country with the most reported cases of COVID-19. According to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, there are now more than 137,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States.