TOPLINE
Just days after rollback of President Trump’s comments about the “slowdown” of coronavirus testing at a Tulsa rally, the White House now plans to end funding for coronavirus testing sites in multiple states as the virus it continues to devastate parts of the country, according to reports. from CNN and Talking Points Memo.
United States President Donald Trump walks through the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in … [+]
KEY FACTS
At his rally in Tulsa on Sunday, Trump commented that he instructed his people to “delay the tests, please,” repeating a false claim that he and Vice President Mike Pence frequently claim that the increased tests are the cause of the tests. sudden increases in coronavirus cases.
The White House tried to roll back that comment, with an official report. Forbes Trump was “obviously joking” and business adviser Peter Navarro called it “ironic,” but Trump seemed to support the comment on Monday, saying the United States has done “too good a job” on the evidence, and on Tuesday he insisted: “I am not kidding”.
Even though White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed that Trump was being sarcastic by saying “I’m not kidding,” it appears his Tulsa comment has come out, as the White House plans to end the funding. for 13 coronavirus testing sites in five states on June 30.
The sites, compared to the 41 originally placed to accelerate testing locally, include seven in Texas, where cases are on the rise, as well as two in Illinois and New Jersey and one in Colorado and Pennsylvania each.
Evidence is already a serious problem in Texas, as people have had to wait in long lines for more than two hours to receive the evidence.
Key background
Initially, the White House had planned to end funding for the sites in April “by transitioning to state-run sites,” but reversed the plan after receiving bipartisan congressional rejection.
Key quote
“Cases are increasing in the US because we are testing much more than any other country, and we are expanding,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “With smaller tests we would show fewer cases!”
Critical boss
Rocky Vaz, Dallas’ director of emergency management, told Talking Points Memo that the White House “told us very clearly that they are not going to extend it,” but that cases are on the rise in Dallas and that “they want to continue the trial. ” A health official in the Philadelphia suburbs called his site “very successful” in April, adding that it provides supplies that the county could not purchase on its own.
Tangent
The White House has also come under fire from Senate Democrats for nearly $ 14 billion in undistributed funds allocated for testing and tracking months earlier. In a letter, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) Alleged that the Department of Health and Human Services has spent only $ 10.8 million out of $ 2 billion. intended for free tests for the uninsured
Big number
34,700. The United States had its third highest number of new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, with 34,700 cases reported, according to the Associated Press.
