Fox News host Tucker Carlson pressed White House coronavirus task force member Seema Verma about a question she appeared to dodge on Fox News the night before.
Appearing on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Thursday night, Verma refused to answer a direct question from Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum about the possibility of ventilator shortages due to the coronavirus epidemic.
“I watched that exchange last night, and I must be honest with you, I was really troubled by it,” Carlson told Verma during Friday night’s edition of “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” “Because you were asked a direct question by Martha MacCallum, ‘do we have enough ventilators in ICU units,’ and you appeared to intentionally not answer it, so I’m going to ask you that question again and hope that we will be reassured by the answer. Do we have enough ventilators to treat a surge in cases of coronavirus right now, do you believe?”
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“So we have stockpile of ventilators,” Verma responded. “So right now today we are able to address people that need ventilators. Our strategy though is to not make the situation worse, but there is a stockpile of ventilators. The president talked about ventilators today and said we’re going to purchase more to make sure that we have that backup supply. The idea here is we don’t want to get into a situation where there are shortages, which is why we are taking that aggressive mitigation action. But, you know, there is a strategic stockpile that has medical supplies, which include ventilators.”
Verma said, when pressed, that they were “still assessing” about the exact numbers, acknowledging the “situation could change rapidly.”
“We’re still working with hospitals to understand what their needs are,” she said. “Right now though, I will tell you that we haven’t had hospitals at this point in large numbers saying we need more ventilators. But that situation could change rapidly. We’re trying to make sure that we stay in communication with hospitals, with the health care facilities so we can understand what their needs are.”
When asked about whether the system could meet a “huge uptick” in ventilator demand, Verma refused to make “drastic predictions.” (RELATED: Supply Chain Expert Tells Tucker What Coming Shortages Americans Should Know About, And It’s Not Toilet Paper)
“It’s not just about having supplies,” she said. “It’s also making sure that they have the flexibility on the front lines, and those are some of the things, those are some of the actions that we are taking to make sure that the health care system is prepared.”