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Chattanooga’s major hospitals decline to answer questions about coronavirus testing as providers ramp up efforts

This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC's laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. (CDC via AP, File) This undated file photo provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows CDC's laboratory test kit for the new coronavirus. (CDC via AP, File)

By Elizabeth Fite March 13, 2020 8 min read

For answers to frequently asked questions about the coronavirus, click here.

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As Hamilton County learned of its first confirmed COVID-19 case Friday, Chattanooga’s major health systems failed to answer questions about how they’re handling testing for the virus at their emergency departments, physician practices and urgent care facilities across the region.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, told The Associated Press on Friday that testing for the new virus has lagged across the country, meaning the government is failing to account for what could be thousands of additional infections.

“The system is not really geared to what we need right now,” Fauci said. “That is a failing. It is a failing, let’s admit it.”