Trump administration defends defunding COVID testing in Texas, four
other states
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[June 25, 2020]
(Reuters) - The Trump administration
said on Wednesday that it would no longer directly fund 13 of its
original coronavirus testing sites in five states, saying states were
allocated money for testing by the federal government last month.
U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brett Giroir said in a call
with reporters that the 13 sites were those left among 41 sites the
agency set up when the new coronavirus pandemic hit earlier this year,
before moving on from the "antiquated" program to newer testing
programs.
NBC reported on Wednesday that funding and support for the sites in
Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Pennsylvania as well as Texas would
end June 30.
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Giroir called the NBC report misleading and said there are thousands of
testing options.
President Donald Trump has lamented the rising U.S. coronavirus cases
and sought to put the onus on increased testing, which he said makes the
United States look bad.
He told a weekend political rally that he asked for testing to be slowed
down, something White House and top U.S. health officials have said was
not requested. Giroir said on Wednesday that he had not been asked to
slow testing, which he expects to rise to at least 40 million to 50
million tests per month by the fall.
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![](../images/062520pics/news_h15.jpg)
A person walks next to a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing
site, which was closed due to inclement weather, in Houston, Texas,
U.S., June 22, 2020. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare
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Giroir added that he had spoken to leaders of the five states,
noting they had agreed "it was the appropriate time to transition"
to other options. He said the states could use the more than $10
billion allocated last month to support testing to keep the sites
open if they chose to.
The federal government fully funds a newer testing program with 600
sites in pharmacies and other health care settings and also pays the
test costs of a third program run with CVS Health Corp at 1,000
locations, he said.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, Caroline Humer in New
York; additional reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by
Franklin Paul, Richard Chang and Marguerita Choy)
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