Trump Is Withholding Coronavirus Testing Kits From Governors

[babylonsister]

https://www.politicususa.com/2020/03/08/trump-coronavirus-testing-kits.html

Posted on Sun, Mar 8th, 2020 by Jason Easley
Trump Is Withholding Coronavirus Testing Kits From Governors


Two governors requested coronavirus testing kits for their states, and the CDC wouldn’t commit to providing them.

Andy Slavitt tweeted:

@ASlavitt
·
1h
I talked this afternoon to 2 governors who told me the CDC will not commit to getting them tests.

Whether because they don’t want the numbers known or incompetency, state & local governments feel abandoned.
Quote Tweet
Justin Hendrix
@justinhendrix
· 2h
106 people in New York have confirmed cases of Coronavirus. But- "As of Saturday only about 120 people in New York City had been tested for the virus. And it has been become clear that the new coronavirus was spreading faster than testing was increasing."
https://nytimes.com/2020/03/08/nyr

Trump is trying to hold the number of coronavirus cases down by not providing an adequate number of test kits so that people can be tested. If people can’t be tested, they also can’t be added to the number of confirmed cases in the United States.

The administration is trying to cover up their bungled coronavirus response by underreporting the number of people who test positive for the virus.

There is no reason for the CDC not to immediately give testing kits to any state that requests them. South Korea has demonstrated that widespread testing is the best way to contain and control the outbreak. If the United States doesn’t provide an adequate number of testing kits, it could be facing a public health catastrophe.

The CDC has been politicized and is doing Trump’s bidding.

At a time when America needs a rapid response, governors can’t get coronavirus test kits.

[elleng]

1. No sh*t, sherlock!

[dem4decades]

2. Were the Governors snakes? We're in dangerous waters now.

[empedocles]

3. Snitty trump withheld funds from Inslee, because no kowtow.

[dem4decades]

6. He would have been a good candidate. He didn't catch on.

[calimary]

82. He was my first choice. I STILL love Jay Inslee.

I STILL think he’d make a great president.

But he was also smart enough to know when to quit, when sufficient support wasn’t there or on the horizon. That, too, is a worthy attribute. Means he’s sensible and realistic, and FACT-BASED.

Wish we had that now...

[sheshe2]

12. I saw earlier

Bill and Melinda Gates will provide them.

Gates Foundation to offer at-home testing kits for coronavirus
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will provide up to $5 million to help public health agencies in the greater Seattle area detect coronavirus.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/gates-foundation-to-help-with-coronavirus-testing-in-seattle/281-bb150c47-9205-487f-80bb-3228f806efa2

Bill and Melinda will do what the pResident of the United States refuses to do, protect our citizens.

[dansolo]

33. Those damn billionaires

[sheshe2]

35. yep.

[Girard442]

38. It's time to put together an impromptu consortium of states to fund tests and research.

They could hire all the CDC and NIH people who are champing at the bit to DO something.

[sheshe2]

50. Yep.

[Maggiemayhem]

47. They are from Washington. What about the other states? NY and California? Lots of cases.

[sheshe2]

58. Who says there are others that won't?

Fact is: I thank them for what they are doing. I thank them for stepping in to do the job of our Federal Government. A job that they all swore on the bible to do.

Fact is the president of the United States, his GOP minions, including the CDC owned and operated by this admin ARE DOING NOTHING!!!! Nothing. Worse yet they are lying to us with a straight face.

[wnylib]

86. I thought Cuomo had obtained

kits from a non government source and received dispensation from Pence to use them in NY. AFAIK, that's how the known cases in NY were detected.

So why would he be seeking kits from CDC?

[mrsadm]

85. About Gates funding for test kits

The Gates Foundation web site says they have made $5 million (drop in bucket?) for the Seattle area test kits. Their site page on this topic was last updated March 4. Not sure this will help a lot of people!

[link:https://www.gatesfoundation.org/TheOptimist/coronavirus|

[mitch96]

32. Inslee should get them from Canada if they would sell to him.... Fuck tRump

[samnsara]

36. well Bill and melinda Gates Foundation is developing home testing kits now....

.....just one of our local billionaires...Now Bezos...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

46. Bill Gates has some interesting things to say about Trump

[rickyhall]

69. Probably hard for Mr. Gates to talk to the dumbest "billionaire" on the planet.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. Thankfully the University of Washington built their own test kits

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/05/812679331/when-coronavirus-struck-seattle-this-lab-was-ready-to-start-testing

Guess those Trump appointed to the CDC are only good at one thing, kissing Trump's ass.

[atreides1]

43. Not just political appointees

It's expected for them to kiss his white flabby ass...but what about the federal employees...who are kissing his ass, to avoid being fired???

The number of political appointees is small, when compared to the number of hired scientists and other specialists...these hired federal employees will keep silent, even if people die...they won't say or do anything...because they don't want to be fired!!!

[Ilsa]

76. I think Stanford University is as well. nt

[DENVERPOPS]

59. LOL D4D.......

I can only guess the two states were NY and California, and of course Washington is a safe bet too........

However, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc etc etc are getting far more testing kits than they could ever use...given the fact they have NO one even suspected of having the virus.......Of course there are states like Arizona that are not testing ANYONE, because the lack of testing PROVES that it is not a problem in their state......

this is so much like the three monkeys, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

I remember a few years ago, but I can't remember what it was, that the Republicans distributed a lump sum of money to all the different states.......They gave five million to Calif., five million to North Dakota, etc etc etc.....It was something that should have been based on the number of people in each state, but they totally ignored that, and sent the same amount of money to each state.
Needless to say the sparsely populated and extremely Red states cried all the way to the bank.

I also remember that someone did a study, and all the southeast red states, who are always complaining about hand-outs, take a far greater amount of money from the Federal Government than they send to Washington in Tax Revenue......... Also the amount of money the Feds sends to Alaska vs the Tax Revenue going to the Gov't makes you easily understand why Alaska is a Red state......

[charliea]

63. Might be my state too...

Oregon is right between the two states that have declared emergencies. A worker at an elementary school, with no known contact with an international traveler, was found to have it a few days ago, so community spread is already here. Our governor Kate Brown is an anti-Trump so I'm guessing that he hates her. I'm wondering if some of the research hospitals in the state will be called on to provide them?

But what about that Missouri (I lived there once) governor who boasted about have tested "almost 17"? That's what I call impressive! /s

[MerryBlooms]

84. Our Gov. Kate Brown declared emergency status, I think Friday.

We have confirmed cases also now in Jackson county and K Falls. I was telling my client Saturday that I am super thankful we have a Dem. Gov. and Brown is wonderful. She's working closely with Gov. Inslee and they are not counting on trump or the feds for help.

[snort]

87. We've got OHSU.

Though I have no knowledge of this I couldn't imagine them not being all over it and working their asses off. Hopefully it won't be too long waiting for test kits. Meanwhile the wife and I have self isolated. Stay safe kids.

[dhol82]

4. Nytimes link not functioning

The politico link is a pain in the ass.

[stillcool]

5. suppress the tests...

unimaginable a very long few years ago.

[bluestarone]

7. Well Well QUID PRO QUO inside the USA.

Here we go again!!! With the senate rethugs blessing!!

[maxrandb]

26. I heard Susan Collins was deeply concerned

or confused... it's hard to tell...

[DENVERPOPS]

61. The Dems in the House

should be capitalizing on this debacle in front of the news 24/7......Along with all the Dem Senate candidates, Dem governors, etc

Has anyone heard much out of them?????? I'm not being funny, either the Republican Owned Media isn't letting them report and criticize anything, or they are still laying back recovering after the impeachment thing.?????????

This is an interesting WTF...........

[Zambero]

71. She's developed Concernavirus

Also causing confusion as noted with a sudden absence of concern when all is said and done.

[bdamomma]

92. Yes

effing Collins he learned his lesson huh?

[2naSalit]

28. that's a good reason tosend the r Senate a bunch of post cards

letting them know taht we hold them responsible for this mess. They have to OWN it... fuckers.

[DENVERPOPS]

83. Well said.............

IF you governors and states kiss my ass, on stage, in front of the media, I MIGHT play nice with you, but then again, MAYBE NOT........

Look at Katrina.....Look at California Wildfires......Look at anything/everything he does......

About a year ago, there was a video of one of his cabinet meetings where first thing, each Secretary of whatever had to give a two minute testimonial praising him of his greatness and his intellectual abilities......It was sickening and repulsive to watch.........

And was it last week? the video of all the people in the room, applauding him for some bullshit thing, and they all didn't dare stop clapping before anyone else......Holy Shit, the applause went on for a minute and a half and the people finally felt it safe to quit clapping when Trump started applauding himself........

This is so f'ing far beyond scary that it is ridiculous. Some one said it's like a 24/7/365 24 hour a day Twilight Zone.
And the most worrisome thing......we haven't begun to see the worst of what is yet to come........

[SalmonChantedEvening]

8. This is the same policy that killed his grandfather.

[uponit7771]

9. Yep, on purpose way for him to call martial law right before the election

[dawg day]

10. The next step will be refusing to send the tests to blue states.

He's already called Inslee of WA a snake, insinuating that Inslee was doing all this to spite Trump.

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[misanthrope]

65. ++1

Petty? But of course.

[mitch96]

37. " refusing to send the tests to blue states"

I was thinking the same thing... Petty bullshit small minded prick......
m

[Maru Kitteh]

77. I think you are correct.

[pat_k]

13. Outrageous, deadly, scandal

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213059853

[Turbineguy]

14. To those inolved:

The Nazis touted their 1000 year empire.

But it didn't happen that way.

[LisaL]

15. Well, weren't we concerned he was going to kill us all?

[trueblue2007]

16. TRUMP DOESN'T WANT THE MILLIONS IN THE US TO BE TESTED,

TRUMP DOESN'T WANT THE MILLIONS IN THE US TO BE TESTED, BECAUSE IT WILL PANIC HIS BASE.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

34. Trump's base is in all 50 states....

I wonder if he knows that?

[keithbvadu2]

45. As long as it drives libruls crazy

As long as it drives libruls crazy

[LisaL]

48. Well, the virus doesn't discriminate.

Trump supporters aren't immune to it. In fact, as majority of them tend to be older males, it will affect them more.

[bdamomma]

93. I hope

this virus finds him, he is not immune.

[Crunchy Frog]

18. CDC is witholding approval for private labs in NYS to begin testing.

Link to tweet

?s=20

[Iliyah]

19. Shithole is making the out break even worst . . .

But alas, he doesn't care.

[Dennis Donovan]

20. Here's Andy Slavitt's tweet with the NYT link:

Link to tweet

Andy Slavitt ✔@ASlavitt

I talked this afternoon to 2 governors who told me the CDC will not commit to getting them tests.

Whether because they don’t want the numbers known or incompetency, state & local governments feel abandoned.

Justin Hendrix ✔@justinhendrix

106 people in New York have confirmed cases of Coronavirus. But- "As of Saturday only about 120 people in New York City had been tested for the virus. And it has been become clear that the new coronavirus was spreading faster than testing was increasing."https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/nyregion/coronavirus-newyork.html …

5:47 PM - Mar 8, 2020

[babylonsister]

57. Thanks. I

still haven't figured out how to do that yet!

[liberalla]

21. Absolutely unacceptable! WTF is going to cut through this ignorant, stubborn,

malicious and negligent behavior??? Something's got to give!

Could this be considered criminal?

[Thomas Hurt]

22. 1 they don't have them, 2 they don't work for sh*t, or three Donnie is hoarding them

for state's that voted for him.

[DURHAM D]

23. This is also part of Trump's war on women.

90% of nurses are female and he does not care if they die.

[Quixote1818]

24. I don't think he understands how big this is going to be and his actions are only going to

cause it to excel out of control much quicker. This is NOT something he can corrupt his way out of. This is going to explode and these kind of actions if proven will seal his loss in November.

[AlexSFCA]

41. his mind is not able to understand any of it

[malaise]

25. When is the US going to lock up this lunatic?

He has destroyed the peace and tranquility

[moondust]

27. Attempted mass murder?

Sometimes I have to wonder when Republicans persist in trying to take affordable health care away from millions, refuse to expand Medicaid, refuse to make infection numbers public, mislead the public into believing it's not serious and will all go away in no time, withhold testing kits, etc.

[samnsara]

31. Susan Collins this is on you!!! and all the rest....!

[uponit7771]

90. +1, or attempted martial law. People still give Red Don t botd

[yaesu]

29. So, Impeachment or man slaughter charges? nt

[Quixote1818]

44. Who knows, could be pitchforks by Nov. nt

[samnsara]

30. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is developing at home swab kits...

[yaesu]

60. people depending on the generosity of the rich, like 1800's England, Please sir, may I have another

[AlexSFCA]

39. can governors buy kits from other countries?

Last edited Sun Mar 8, 2020, 10:00 PM - Edit history (1)

[SunSeeker]

66. There's a Utah company selling kits to the EU, but the CDC won't approve them for US use.

http://codiagnostics.com/products/diagnostic-solutions/logix-smart-covid19/

[struggle4progress]

40. "If I don't like you, I won't give you test kits. Nyah nyah yah-nyah nyah!"

[bluestarone]

42. IMPEACH the fucker again!

THIS needs to be investigated!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

49. "Heckuva job, Trumpie!"

You learned nothing from Katrina because you can't learn anything.

[SunSeeker]

67. Covid-19 will make the Katrina death toll look minuscule.

Looks like Trump thinks if we don't test for it, he can just blame it on a really REALLY bad flu season.

[DENVERPOPS]

81. someone once said

The most difficult time to learn anything is when you think you know it all.........

[Evolve Dammit]

51. This alone should trigger impeachment again

[mchill]

52. When people stop showing up to work at the WH

We’ll figure it out Trump.

[spanone]

53. lock the motherfucker up.

[DemoTex]

55. When will the World Court charge Trump w/ Crimes Against Humanity?

Because that is exactly what his actions constitute.

[Nonhlanhla]

56. This has the potential to become

both the greatest tragedy and the greatest scandal in US history. And yes, a crime against humanity.

[world wide wally]

62. Trump in charge during a crisis?

WTF did you expect?,,,, Spontaneous competence or something?

[Perseus]

64. He wants to black mail them, or a quid pro quo, which he seems to be very good at

We need to take all the immigrants at the border, take them out of those cages and replace it with trump, his kids and the enablers. They all seem to be psychopaths.

They have no concept of consequences, that is what makes them so dangerous.

[mwooldri]

68. Partial solution - state governors announce their own suspected totals.

My understanding is that the test itself is a nasal swab, sent to a lab for processing. In NC, suspected Covid-19 tests are sent to the state lab, who then get the CDC to confirm their findings. In other words, the state of North Carolina has the capacity and ability to process Covid-19 testing but can't say that the results are positive because the test isn't federally approved.

I would presume big states like California and New York will have similar state labs like NC and could test for Covid-19 in a similar way, just not able to be federally certified.

So a protocol can be established - take two swabs, send both to the state lab.... State lab processes one, leaves the other for CDC to get around to. State labs can announce their own totals.

[uponit7771]

73. +1, They can also pay to get their own test produced with WHO specs

[Blue_true]

75. That would allow states to treat people. nt

[uponit7771]

91. That's what the CDC is calling for but the Obama admin didn't do such during swing flu which was way

... way worse than CV after a year.

Obama CDC kept the information centralized so one doesn't have to go to 50+ different places to get data

[Baitball Blogger]

70. What do we do the day we learn that Trump selectively provides them only for

Republican governors?

[Salviati]

72. This is just going to cause more panic - people dying with flulike symptoms will surely be tested...

... and if the number of people who have it but are not being tested is suppressed, then it's going to appear given the bogus numbers that the mortality rate is going to skyrocket.

the only way to possibly manage this epidemic well is with openness and honesty. People can't make good decisions if they're being lied to. In other words, we're fucked.

[yuiyoshida]

74. IF THIS IS TRUE....

He truly is a disgusting bastard....I would say more but I don't need my acccount locked.

[bluescribbler]

78. What they can't cover up:

The death toll. As bad as the overcrowding in ERs and ICUs will be, morgues and mortuaries will be even worse.

[mahina]

79. Drive through testing for all medical people first

I need to protect the nurses and doctors and all of those folks

[TrogL]

80. Remember the movie "Deep Impact"?

People like Trump’s base blamed the catastrophe on the kid who discovered the comet.

If the cases aren’t discovered then they’re not a problem.

My head hurts.

[lagomorph777]

88. Punishing any state that isn't infested with MAGAts?

[mainer]

89. States should request test kits directly from WHO

And run their own tests. While they may not be CDC-approved results, at least states will know immediately who needs to be quarantined.