President Trump this afternoon announced the distribution of $11 billion so that states can ramp up testing and contact tracing of coronavirus cases as he signals a new phase in the pandemic response.
Testing has proven to be one of the most contentious parts of his government’s handling of the crisis.
At a Rose Garden briefing Monday, Trump effectively handed over responsibility to governors.
A senior administration official said federal agencies had been working closely with states to set out their targets for May.
“You’ll notice some of the governors who have been a little hostile to the administration — now all of a sudden, they are saying, ‘Oh, we are figuring out how to do testing,’” he said.
“It’s not a miracle. It’s not that all of a sudden they’ve figured it out. It’s that we’ve held their hand, and we’ve helped them get the supplies they need,” he added. “And we’ve explained to them how to do it. Now, a lot of them are starting to take credit.”
He said best practices are being shared with states to help them implement surveillance testing to detect asymptomatic spread before outbreaks run out of control.
“Everyone has what they need, through the scientific development of tests or the FDA’s approval of tests, through working the supply chain to create enough swabs, transport media reagents in order to conduct the tests,” the administration official said.
“And now, we are also sending out $11 billion to the states.”
The money was set aside for testing and contact tracing in the $2 trillion CARES Act.
The official said that testing was continuing to accelerate.
“As of today, we’ve probably passed 9 million early this morning,” he said. “And we believe that later this week, we will pass 10 million tests performed.”
During his Rose Garden appearance, Trump inadvertently said he was sending “$1 billion” to the states.
[Read more: White House memo directs staff to wear masks while entering West Wing]
