Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Sunday stated her state has the capacity to double or triple the number of coronavirus tests it carries out but it requires federal help in getting materials that support the task.
” The reagents and the swabs are absolutely vital.
Evaluating is a key part of the country’s push to detect and separate the virus and reopen the economy.
President Trump, eager to get life back to normal, has actually prompted states to take the lead on testing for the coronavirus by tapping into labs that are idle.
Yet Ms. Whitmer and other governors, especially Andrew Cuomo of New york city, state they require more equipment.
Mr. Cuomo says Mr. Trump is uniquely placed to gather testing devices by conjuring up the Defense Production Act. He also said the federal government can work out with foreign countries that produce much-needed chemicals for the tests.
Ms. Whitmer echoed those beliefs, as she faces pressure from pro-Trump protesters to relax rigid shutdown guidelines and resume the state economy.
” If the federal government would use the Defense Production Act and state we are going to make every swab people need and we going to speed up development of the reagents– we would understand how common COIVD-19 is,” she informed NBC. “It would remove the risks related to doing something about it to reengage specific parts of our economy because we would have a lot more data about how widespread COVID-19 still is in our state.”
