Governors have warned the federal government that they do not have the number of coronavirus tests needed to track new cases in their states. President Trump, however, said Monday that states have all the testing they need, highlighting division among federal and state officials as the nation works to curb the coronavirus pandemic and revive the economy.
Trump and administration officials presented the case Monday evening that all states have the testing necessary for the first phase of lifting pandemic restrictions envisioned by the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Trump said that labs across the country “have tremendous capacity” and all of the necessary machinery to conduct tests.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said Monday, however, that the number of facilities is not an issue.
“Those labs can only run the number of tests that those national manufacturers provide them,” Cuomo said. “The national manufacturers say they have supply chain issues. I’d like the federal government to help on those supply chain issues.”
Gov. Larry Hogan, who also chairs the National Governors Association, also said Monday that a lack of tests is Maryland’s biggest problem.
The Republican went to the extraordinary length to circumvent the federal government to purchase 5,000 test kits from South Korea, delivered over the weekend. His wife Yumi, who was born in South Korea and became a U.S. citizen in 1994, was able to negotiate the deal with the vendors in their native language in a matter of 22 days.
“We can’t open up our states without ramping up testing … Luckily, we had a very strong relationship with Korea. But it should not have been this difficult,” Hogan told the New York Times.
The Trump administration, however, maintained that Hogan’s efforts were unnecessary.
Coronavirus testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir said, “There is excess capacity every day” to conduct coronavirus tests in the United States.
Trump added, “The governor of Maryland could have called Mike Pence, could have saved a lot of money … I don’t think he needed to go to South Korea. I think he needed to get a little knowledge, would’ve been helpful.”
Pence added that he didn’t know when the governor placed the order, but that he “wouldn’t begrudge him or any of his health officials for ordering tests.”
Governors have urged the administration to boost production of new tests, and many outside public health officials have said that dramatically increased testing is needed. Administration officials, though, maintain that there are enough tests on the market for states and more than enough labs in which health officials can run the tests, and that testing is only one component of the plan for returning the country to normal.
Cuomo, a Democrat, is meeting with Trump in the Oval Office Tuesday. So far, about 4 million people in the U.S. have been tested for the virus, and about 783,000 cases have been confirmed. At least 41,870 people have died, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.
The benchmark price for U.S. crude oil fell into the negatives for the first time ever Monday, an event explained largely by the fact that storage for oil is scarce, forcing producers to pay traders to take excess oil off their hands to settle a futures contract that expired Tuesday.
The background context is that demand for oil has cratered as the pandemic has forced people off the roads around the world. Trump reiterated Monday he is seeking to add about 75 million barrels of oil to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and that “we’ll get it for the right price.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called the Senate back for another pro forma session Tuesday after Democrats held up a massive small business aid package during Monday’s session, suggesting that leaders are hopeful that they can strike a deal to pass legislation quickly.
“At this hour, our Democratic colleagues are still prolonging their discussions with the administration, so the Senate, regretfully, will not be able to pass more funding for American paychecks today,” the Kentucky Republican said.
Lawmakers have spent days debating a new spending package, which Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said will include $300 billion for additional funding for the small-business forgivable loan program, $75 billion for hospitals and medical facilities, and $25 billion for states to invest in coronavirus testing.
Some bookstores, florists, car dealerships, and other businesses were permitted to open in Germany Monday, as the nation moves tentatively toward trying to resume normal activity. Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned that a second wave of coronavirus cases is possible. She said that it would be a “crying shame” if the country, which has handled the crisis relatively well, were to “relapse,” according to the Guardian. Germany currently has at least 146,000 coronavirus cases, and over 4,700 deaths have been reported.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned Monday that the worst phase of the coronavirus pandemic “is yet ahead of us.”
“Let’s prevent this tragedy,” he said. “It’s a virus that many people still don’t understand.”
Other countries are lifting lockdown restrictions this week in addition to Germany, and several countries such as Austria and Denmark have already lifted some restrictions on going to schools, public parks, factories and job sites, and more.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said Monday in an appearance on the Fox Business Network that the administration is monitoring Austria as a test case for whether and how economics can be reopened.
“We’re following, for example — even though it’s a kind of small country — Austria very closely,” he said. “They’ve started to turn their economy back on.”
