One of the issues with the US response to the coronavirus is that testing has been woefully inadequate. But Trump says that’s about to change:
For decades the @CDCgov looked at, and studied, its testing system, but did nothing about it. It would always be inadequate and slow for a large scale pandemic, but a pandemic would never happen, they hoped. President Obama made changes that only complicated things further…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
…. Their response to H1N1 Swine Flu was a full scale disaster, with thousands dying, and nothing meaningful done to fix the testing problem, until now. The changes have been made and testing will soon happen on a very large scale basis. All Red Tape has been cut, ready to go!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020
I hope he’s right about this because up until now, the reports have been that only the most critical get tested because of a lack of resources and that the CDC itself is testing in really low numbers:
Coronavirus testing numbers:
-CDC tested 77 people this week **total** as of Wednesday
-States are testing an average of 50 people per day.
-A single private lab is up and running w. coronavirus tests. The next soonest will be ready to go on 03/16.https://t.co/HwnjMhnD94
— Alexander Nazaryan (@alexnazaryan) March 12, 2020
In related news, Trump is pushing Congress harder on the payroll tax cut, saying it’s the quickest and most effective way to get money back into the hands of people:
If you want to get money into the hands of people quickly & efficiently, let them have the full money that they earned, APPROVE A PAYROLL TAX CUT until the end of the year, December 31. Then you are doing something that is really meaningful. Only that will make a big difference!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2020