The Trump administration is ending funding for at least 13 COVID-19 testing sites across the country, despite sudden and rapid increases in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, even in the states these testing facilities may be forced to close.
Among the states seeing a surge in new infections, Texas, “will be particularly hard hit by the decision,” Talking Points Memo reveals in its exclusive report. “The federal government gives much-needed testing kits and laboratory access to seven testing sites around Texas.”
Those seven sites represent just over half of the 13 sites for which the Trump administration is gutting funding. The 13 sites are the remainder of what were originally 43 federally-funded testing sites. The other 30 have already been cut.
Along with pulling funding from the seven Texas testing sites, Illinois and New Jersey will lose funding for their sites (two each) and Colorado and Pennsylvania will lose funding for their sites (one each.)
On Saturday President Trump revealed he had told administration officials to “slow down” coronavirus testing. Just this morning he confirmed that he had not been not speaking “in jest,” as the White House falsely claimed Monday. “I don’t kid,” Trump told reporters when asked about his damning admission.
Also this week, Democratic lawmakers revealed the Trump administration has refused to allocate and/or disburse more than $14 billion of congressionally-appropriated funding for coronavirus testing.