Trump to Governors in Surfaced Audio: ‘I Haven’t Heard About Testing Being a Problem’
The amount of testing for the coronavirus is a significant issue across the country. However, in audio released from a phone call President Donald Trump had with governors on Monday, he said that he had not heard of any…
The amount of testing for the coronavirus is a significant issue across the country.
However, in audio released from a phone call President Donald Trump had with governors on Monday, he said that he had not heard of any issues with testing in weeks.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of that National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, asked the governors if they have the resources to find and isolate cases of the coronavirus.
Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) raised concerns about the number of testing resources available to his state, “We are trying to do contact tracing, but literally we are one day away if we don’t get testing kits from the CDC that we wouldn’t be able to do testing in Montana.”
Bullock went on to say that officials in his state have tried to acquire resources from the “private side,” but he said that the state’s orders for medical equipment — including testing supplies — were being “canceled.”
“Basically, we’re getting our orders canceled — that’s for PPE, that’s for testing supplies, that’s for testing equipment. So, while we’re trying to do all the contact tracing, we don’t have adequate tests to necessarily do it.”
Trump responded, “Tony, you can answer it if you want, but I haven’t heard about testing in weeks. We’ve tested more now than any nation in the world. We’ve got these great tests, and we’ll come out with one tomorrow that’s, you know, almost instantaneous testing.”
“But, I haven’t heard about testing being a problem,” he reiterated.
Listen to the exchange below:
Trump’s comments come as he has been criticized for stating, “Anyone who wants a test can get a test” earlier in early March.
When the virus initially began spreading in the country, the U.S. saw minimal testing, which made it hard to track and isolate cases. However, on Monday, Trump announced that the country had tested more than 1 million Americans for the coronavirus.
Despite the ramp-up in testing, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) told CNN that he expects the outbreak of the virus to reach its peak in the state between mid-April and mid-May, but, “We’re not quite sure when.”
“Part of this is driven by the fact that we don’t have widespread testing,” he added.
Watch his comments below:
Several other governors in recent days voiced similar concerns about the lack of testing and how it was hindering their ability to get a handle on the outbreak in their state.
The U.S. has over 174,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, as of Tuesday afternoon.