As New Hotspots Pop Up, Updates to Accountable.US Resource Show Nation’s COVID Testing Still Lags Behind

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Days after President Trump doubled down on his debunked claim that testing more people accounts for the increased number of coronavirus cases and said he told officials to “slow the [COVID-19] testing down,” and with the new revelation that the administration is sitting on $14 billion in federal funding for testing and contact tracing, Accountable.US is relaunching WhereAreTheTests.com — a website dedicated to exposing the Trump administration’s failed record on COVID-19 testing.

WhereAreTheTests tracks the federal government’s continued failure to build up a robust national testing regime after months of broken promises to make tests widely accessible, and millions of wasted taxpayer dollars spent on unproven contractors to make faulty tests. Despite Trump’s claim today that we’re “ahead of ourselves” on testing, study after study shows that the nation lags far behind where it needs to be to ensure people’s safety.

“It’s been months since this crisis began, and still the Trump administration can’t answer the simple question: where are the tests?” said Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig. “Robust testing is one of the most effective ways of protecting public health and safety — but the President would rather claim he wants to slow testing down than admit his administration has failed to provide the nation with the materials it needs to test the population. Hopefully, Congress can get answers from Dr. Fauci when he testifies tomorrow.”

As new COVID-19 hotspots pop up across the nation, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is reportedly sitting on $14 billion for testing and contact tracing — but after months of slow progress and missed goalposts, it’s unclear what the administration is waiting for and where it intends to funnel those crucial funds.

New research highlighted on the site shows a coordinated push by the Trump administration to deem the number of tests being conducted in the United States a victory and to distract from the rising number of positive cases by saying they were a product of a robust testing system.

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