Trump’s development and distribution of coronavirus testing has been an unmitigated disaster and remains a failure today, despite Trump’s claims otherwise. Trump continues to try to skirt responsibility for his delayed response, as we learn yet again that he was warned of the crisis early on, and yet did nothing.
Despite Trump’s claims, testing remains a failure in the battle against the coronavirus as the U.S. continues to test only the sickest patients.
Axios: “Coronavirus testing capacity is still lagging far enough behind demand that the U.S. continues to only test the sickest patients — a bad omen for future efforts to return to normal life.”
New York Times: “Testing availability remains a signature failure of the battle against the coronavirus in the United States, despite President Trump’s boast last week that he got a rapid test and results within minutes. And Vice President Mike Pence has repeatedly promised that Americans will be able to get tests at their doctors’ offices, although the timeline for routine access may be months away.”
Trump raged at the idea that the federal government is responsible for testing at all in last night’s press briefing.
The Daily Beast: “Trump Rages Over Watchdog Report on ‘Severe’ Hospital Shortages”
The Daily Beast: “Later during the briefing, the president grew increasingly hostile when pressed about the report and testing. He declared that hospitals and states should also ‘be doing testing.’ ‘We’re the federal government,’ Trump said. ‘We’re not supposed to stand on street corners doing testing.’”
One of Trump’s top advisers circulated memos in the White House in January warning that the coronavirus could cost the economy trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk. Everyone knew, and yet they did nothing.
New York Times: “A top White House adviser starkly warned Trump administration officials in late January that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk of illness or death.”
Trump forced states and hospitals to procure their own supplies, but now FEMA is commandeering supplies, creating more confusion and disarray.
New York Times: “For weeks, the Trump administration pushed states to procure their own ventilators and protective gear, like masks, gloves and face shields. But a new effort by the administration to create a hybrid system of distribution — divided between the federal government, local officials and private health care companies — has led to new confusion, bordering on disarray, and charges of confiscation.”
New York Times: “Because the federal government determines which states are in greater need, governors and hospitals executives preparing in advance for the worst have complained that FEMA was effectively commandeering their personal protective equipment, or P.P.E… The intervention has confused some local officials and company executives who have watched as the administration has repeatedly called on states to find medical supples on their own without relying on the federal government.”