Feds About To Bail On Supporting COVID Testing Sites In Texas And Other States

[EleanorR]

The federal government will stop providing money and support for 13 sites across five states which were originally set up in the first months of the pandemic to speed up testing at the local level.

Local officials and public health experts expressed a mixture of frustration, resignation, and horror at the decision to let federal support lapse.

In a May report released to Congress, the Trump administration said that it intended to place responsibility for COVID-19 testing on the states.

The sites provide testing kits and laboratories, and notify patients of their results. The federal government covers costs, while providing staff and signing its own contracts with third-party vendors.

The Trump administration previously attempted to end support for the testing sites running under the same program in early April. The government reversed the move after a public outcry, extending the sites. The extension is now coming to an end.

Out of a starting number of 41 sites, 13 remain in operation across five states. In addition to Texas’ seven, Illinois and New Jersey each have two, while Colorado and Pennsylvania each have one.

The aid for testing takes a financial burden off of cities and states already buckling under a budget crunch from the pandemic, while boosting testing capacity.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/exclusive-feds-about-to-bail-on-supporting-covid-testing-sites-in-texas-and-other-states

[2naSalit]

1. That's truly fucked up...

I swear they are trying to kill us, so many that the rest will be willing to submit to serfdom.

Change is gonna come.

[Initech]

2. We are on our own.

[CrispyQ]

3. Unfuckingbelievable.

Shaking my goddamned fucking head.

[bobbieinok]

4. GOP is incredibly evil!