Mnuchin says he’s regularly tested for coronavirus

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he is regularly tested for the coronavirus in a Thursday interview with The Hill’s Editor-in-Chief Bob Cusack for the outlet’s “Advancing America’s Economy” virtual event.

“I am also tested on a regular basis because I am in pretty much daily contact with the president and the vice president and others,” Mnuchin said Thursday. “The White House has thought it prudent. And these Abbott machines, it’s a very easy process. I hope we can get more and more of these Abbott machines into the workforce.”

“I think in many places, if people could go into work and get tested, they’d be much more confident in going to work,” he added.

A study from New York University, which has not been peer-reviewed, indicated Abbott’s coronavirus test missed 48 percent of positive cases in dry nasal swab testing. Both Abbott and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar have pushed back on the findings, with Azar saying the false negatives could be attributable to “user error.”

“We still have confidence in the test or we wouldn’t have it on the market,” Azar said on Fox Business last Friday.

“There are many users who have contacted us and have not had this problem, so [the Food and Drug Administration] FDA is digging into it, and we’re working with Abbott to actually look at what data are available to get the most up to date and accurate information about the test performance,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said last Friday.

The Hill’s event was sponsored by Wells Fargo and Siemen’s.