President Trump has repeatedly insisted the U.S. has plenty of coronavirus tests for everyone who needs one, though it is up to states to procure them. One of the glaring holes in Trump's assertion is that state officials are publicly and privately confirming what people trying to get coronavirus tests have long known: There are not enough tests.
So when Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Monday that his state had purchased 500,000 COVID-19 tests from testing powerhouse South Korea, thanks to Hogan's Korean-speaking wife, Trump suggested Hogan was just ill-informed about labs available in Maryland. Vice President Mike Pence later stepped up to announce that the federal government would now let governors utilize the federal labs Hogan says he's been "desperately been trying to get help" from. Hogan took to Twitter on Monday night to thank Trump, kind of.
The U.S. has conducted just over 4 million tests, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That is far short of the number of tests that many governors and nearly all public health experts say is needed to manage the outbreak after coronavirus lockdowns are lifted.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Critics' choice: Outstanding new Japanese restaurantsFeature An all-women sushi team, a 15-seat listening bar, and more
-
Why do Dana White and Donald Trump keep pushing for a White House UFC match?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The president and the sports mogul each have their own reasons for wanting a White House spectacle
-
'Quiet vacationing': a secret revolt against workplace cultureThe explainer You can be in two places at once
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance mergerSpeed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profitsSpeed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits
-
Dollar faces historic slump as stocks hit new highSpeed Read While stocks have recovered post-Trump tariffs, the dollar has weakened more than 10% this year
-
Economists fear US inflation data less reliablespeed read The Labor Department is collecting less data for its consumer price index due to staffing shortages
-
Crypto firm Coinbase hacked, faces SEC scrutinySpeed Read The Securities and Exchange Commission has also been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures
