PUBLISHED SUN, APR 19 20207:17 PM EDTUPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
KEY
POINTS
·
President Donald Trump
announced on Sunday that he plans to use the Defense Production Act to increase
the nation’s swab production by at least 20 million per month for coronavirus
tests
·
Trump’s announcement
comes after some governors cited a lack of swabs and reagents as hampering
their ability to conduct more coronavirus tests.
·
Michigan Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that her state could triple the
number of tests conducted if the key components were made available.
President Donald
Trump announced on Sunday that he plans to use the Defense
Production Act to increase the nation’s swab production by at least 20 million
per month for coronavirus tests.
Trump said the administration is close to
finalizing a partnership with one manufacturer to produce an additional 10
million swabs per month for coronavirus test kits, which are used to collect
specimens from a patient’s throat or nose. Trump said he is preparing to use
the Defense Production Act on another manufacturer to increase its swab production
by over 20 million per month.
Trump did not disclose the names of the
manufacturer. A FEMA spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
The president previously enacted the Defense Production Act on companies
like General Motors and General
Electric to manufacturer additional ventilators, although many had already ramped up production.
“We’ve had a little difficulty with one so we’re
calling in, as in the past you know, we’re calling in the Defense Production
Act and we’ll be getting swabs very easily,” Trump said. “Swabs are easy.
Ventilators are hard.”
Trump’s announcement comes after some governors
cited a lack of swabs and reagents as hampering their ability to conduct more
coronavirus tests. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told NBC’s “Meet the Press”
on Sunday that her state could triple the number of tests conducted if the key
components were made available.
Whitmer called on the Trump administration
to enact the Defense Production Act to ramp
up swab and reagent production.
“We don’t even have enough swabs believe it or
not and we’re ramping that up,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat,
told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “But, for the national level to
say that we have what we need and really to have no guidance to the state
levels is just irresponsible because we’re not there yet.”
At the White House press briefing Sunday, Trump
said that the swabs were previously shipped to the states but some of them
“don’t know where they are.”
“We have them coming by the tens of millions. We
have them coming at a level that you’ll have so many swabs you won’t know what
to do with them,” Trump said.
Earlier on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence
said the administration has “laid a strong foundation for testing for phase
one.” He said that there are enough tests for any governor who
meets the 14-day criteria of declining case numbers outlined by the White House
to move into phase one and begin reopening their state’s economy.
Experts have warned, however, against opening
the country before widespread testing is available. Some say that as many as 20
to 30 million people per day will need tested before the nation can return to a semblance of
economic normality.
There are currently more than 150,000 tests
being conducted per day, Pence said, but that number could “double” once
laboratories across the country are activated.
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