Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that every American who needs a coronavirus test should be able to get one by late May or early June.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, appeared on CNN's "The Lead," where host Jake Tapper noted that the federal government is helping states add 6 million to 8 million tests a month.
"I believe you would like that number to be closer to 12 million tests a month, right?" Tapper asked.
"Right," Fauci said, explaining the federal government has to provide strategic guidance as well as technical assistance.
But, he added, there has been a problem getting tests to those who need them.
"If that's not happening, if we're not connecting those dots, we need to help them do that," Fauci said. "We can't just leave them on their own on the one hand, and the federal government can't do it by itself on the other hand."
Fauci said there is a difference between when everyone who wants a test and everyone who needs a test will get one.
"Everyone who needs a test, according to the way we're approaching the identification, isolation, contact tracing, keeping the country safe and healthy, that hopefully we should see that as we get toward the end of May, the beginning of June," he said. "That's what I'm being told by the people who are responsible for the testing. I take them for their word.
"If that doesn’t happen, I'm going to go to them and say, 'What happened here, why didn't it happen, and how can we fix it?'"