Prognosis

Doctors Call for U.S. ‘Czar’ to Coordinate Equipment, Tests

  • Groups in letter say they feel ‘abandoned’ by government
  • Trump has been criticized for lack of federal coordination

Nurses wearing PPE prepare to collect a nasal swab from a patient at a Covid-19 drive-through testing in Escondido, California.

Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
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U.S. doctors and other health-care workers dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic are urging a coordinated federal effort to make sure medical equipment, protective gear and tests get to where they’re needed.

In a letter to President Donald Trump and testing chief Admiral Brett Giroir, the doctors called for a “medical equipment czar” and a task force to specifically oversee supply and distribution of the gear.