Fauci says coronavirus testing likely will double in the coming weeks

The current amount of COVID-19 testing likely will double in the coming weeks, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a National Academy of Sciences panel about the virus.

"We're doing about 1.5, 2 million per week," said Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "We probably should get up to twice that as we get into the next several weeks, and I think we will.

"Testing is an important part of what we're doing, but is not the only part," Fauci noted. "But no doubt it is important to be able to do the identification, isolation and contact tracing." 

Fauci, who has factored prominently in the daily coronavirus task force briefings at the White House, said it is important to have "enough tests to respond to the outbreaks that will inevitably occur as you try and ease your way back into the different phases."

As the nation moves toward reopening in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump has issued Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, which include three phases.