Murray Blasts Trump Administration For Plan To Close Testing Sites As COVID-19 Cases Spike

Trump Administration is ending federal funding for 13 COVID-19 testing sites at the end of the month

Move comes as several states continue to see COVID-19 cases increase at record breaking rates

Senator Murray: “The pandemic is clearly getting worse in states nationwide—and instead of trying harder to stop it, President Trump is apparently trying harder to hide it.”

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee released the following statement in response to news that the Trump Administration plans to close 13 federal testing sites at the end of the month.

“The pandemic is clearly getting worse in states nationwide—and instead of trying harder to stop it, President Trump is apparently trying harder to hide it. It’s completely unacceptable that while billions in federal dollars Congress passed to support testing sit unspent, this Administration is closing testing sites in states where new COVID-19 cases are rapidly on the rise. The President should reverse this clearly counterproductive step immediately.”

The announcement from the Trump Administration is just the latest signal the Trump Administration isn’t taking its responsibility to ramp up testing nationwide seriously. The Trump Administration previously submitted an inadequate national testing plan. On Sunday, Senator Murray wrote to the Administration about its failure to disburse nearly $14 billion for testing and contact tracing provided by Congress. President Trump has also repeatedly dismissed testing, called it “overrated,” and recently called for the country to do less testing.

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