The Trump administration announced that it will cut federal funds from 13 coronavirus test sites spread across five states on June 30, and the move is now drawing rejection from both political parties.
“The federal government is not ending funding or support for the COVID-19 test sites,” Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Adm. Brett Giroir said Thursday.
“We are making the transition from 13 sites from the now outdated original program to the most efficient and effective test sites,” Giroir said, adding that hundreds of other test sites are funded by the federal government and this move has been planned since May. .
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The test sites, distributed in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Pennsylvania, will receive financial support through Congress-approved $ 10 billion aid for testing and contact tracing.
“I personally spoke to the governors of the five states involved, and / or their leadership representatives, who agreed that the time was right to transition from the original 13 sites to the thousands of new testing options,” Giroir told Fox. News.
But as coronavirus cases continue to rise in several states, including Texas, which reported a daily high of more than 5,000 new cases on Tuesday, and has seven of the 13 test sites that will lose federal assistance. It drew criticism from Democrats and Republicans.
Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz and John Cornyn on Thursday presented a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urging them to grant an extension of the funds.
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“While supporting CBTS [Community-Based Testing Sites] Transitioning from the program to a public-private model that will expand testing at retail stores and pharmacies at full federal expense, maintaining CBTS transit sites is critical to Texas testing capabilities, “Cruz said in the letter.
“Some of the state’s largest cities, where these CBTS sites are located, are experiencing registrations of new cases in a single day.”
“Now is not the time to end federal support for a program that is working and successfully increasing testing capacity, especially for underserved communities in the state,” he added.
Four Democratic members of Congress in Texas also submitted a letter to HHS and FEMA earlier this week, urging them to continue providing federal assistance until the end of August.
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“Texas continues to establish records for the number of new cases and hospitalizations, and Harris County leads the state in the number of confirmed cases,” the letter said. “Right now, we must expand the number of people screened per day to prevent further spread of the virus.”
“In addition, withdrawing support will place a great burden on the City of Houston Department of Health, the Harris County Department of Public Health and their partners,” added members of Congress, including Democrat Sylvia Garcia, whose District 29 resides in east Houston, Texas.
Four of the test sites are in Harris County, and the letter notes that losing federal funds at these sites “could hinder their continued development of a contact tracking system.”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE
“The elimination of FEMA at this time could be damaging and irresponsible,” the letter said.
Giroir told Fox News that the original 41 community test sites have expanded to more than 600 test sites in 48 states under a “federal combined pharmacy payment program,” which allowed more than 1,400 additional pharmacy sites to provide tests.
“HHS will continue to increase testing capacity overall, and make it more accessible, especially for underserved communities,” Giroir said Thursday.
