Handling the coronavirus crisis

[Admin]

To show that his administration has been fast and effective in its response to the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump claimed that anybody who wants to get tested for the respiratory disease caused by the virus can do so. "Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is," Trump told reporters March 6 during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Moments later, Trump added that anybody that needs a test gets one.

PolitiFact | Donald Trump’s wrong claim that ‘anybody’ can get tested for coronavirus

• This was wrong on March 6 (per politifact in the link above), but it's still wrong 6 weeks later.
  
• This is scandalous, there are still shortages in reagents and swaps and testing numbers have not increased as a consequence.
  
• Trump on his daily briefing on April 18 blamed Democratic governors for this (some Republican ones, like the governor from Ohio also complained about shortages) and even suggested that they don't want to use available test capacity to keep the numbers down.
  
• This is scandalous again, because the states are bidding against one another for scarce resources, only the Federal government could coordinate this.
  
• The Federal government could, and should have invoked the Defense Procurement Act to summon companies to supply the materials in short supply.
  
• It's mind boggling why Trump has still not done that, given the crucial role much ramped up testing plays in increasing the chances of opening up the economy, something Trump is eager to do.