The White House announced on Monday that the nation would conduct 8 million tests by the end of May but that the Federal government would still only act in a supporting role.
That adds up to 2% of each state’s population per month, which experts say is not enough testing. Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Health Committee, said on Monday that Mr. Trump’s plan was meaningless: “This document does nothing new and will accomplish nothing new,” Ms. Murray said in a statement. “It doesn’t set specific, numeric goals, offer a time frame, identify ways to fix our broken supply chain, or offer any details whatsoever on expanding lab capacity or activating needed manufacturing capacity. Perhaps most pathetically, it attempts to shirk obvious federal responsibilities by assigning them solely to states instead.”
On Tuesday Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to provide federal support of the meat production plants.
This week the death toll passed 56,000: The coronavirus has killed more Americans in 12 weeks than the Vietnam war killed in 19 years.
Personal Log: The state opened up the parks and golf courses on Friday. Masks and social distancing are required.
— COVID-19 Cases / Deaths: 1,092,815 / 64,283
–Trump’s Job Approval: 43.4%