“Federal public health officials have been in continuous contact with our Texas public health leaders, and after receiving yesterday’s extension request, they have agreed to extend support to five community testing sites in Texas,” said the undersecretary. Health Admiral Brett P Giroir said in a statement Friday. “We will continue to closely monitor Covid-19 diagnoses and assess the need for increased federal support from these sites as we get closer to the extension date.”
The program still expires June 30 for eight remaining sites across the country.
Federal assistance will include additional federal resources in Dallas and Houston, where the virus has had a major impact, according to a press release from the office of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
“I thank our federal partners for extending these operations in Texas, and for their flexibility in allocating their resources to the Dallas and Houston communities that are experiencing a large number of COVID-19 cases at this time,” Abbott said in a statement. .
At a campaign rally over the weekend, he said the coronavirus tests were “a double-edged sword.”
“I said to my people, ‘Slow down the testing, please,'” added the president.
Vice President Mike Pence said Friday that “all 50 states and territories in this country are being opened safely and responsibly,” even as cases in many states are increasing, and eight states have halted their reopening efforts.
Pence also said he will soon visit some of the states currently most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, including states where the president recently held political events in which attendees did not have to wear face masks or social distance.
“Freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly is enshrined in the United States Constitution,” said Pence. “We have an upcoming election this fall. And President Trump and I believe that if we take the right steps … and give people the best advice we have, we still want to give people the freedom to participate in the political process. ” we respect that. ”
CNN’s Brad Parks, Lauren Fox, Priscilla Alvarez, Ali Zaslav, Daniella Diaz, and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
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