Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer says the Trump Administration must develop a national strategy for testing coronavirus cases and delivering protective medical equipment and supplies.
Whitmer told members of a House Congressional committee today that when the pandemic ignited in the U-S…federal officials told her and other governors they had to find their own supplies with only limited help from the national stockpile.
“When we are procuring these on our own we necessarily start bidding against one another. And guess who tops all of our contracting ability…it’s the federal government. So when Michigan was heating up and exponential growth was happening here…it was the federal government that was where our supplies were getting delayed and distracted to,” Whitmer says.
Whitmer says FEMA has provided great assistance since that time.
But she and other governors caution that much more COVID-19 testing and a sufficient supply of FLU vaccine…must be made available to ensure there is not a crushing second viral wave this fall.
Whitmer has told Congress that Michigan lacks supplies to fully ramp up testing for the coronavirus and says it's difficult to determine what the U.S. government is shipping. She testified Tuesday that while she appreciates the federal assistance, information about testing supplies being delivered is sometimes inaccurate. She says it's making planning “very difficult" and supplies could be allocated more quickly with better information. As of Sunday, about 13,400 COVID-19 tests were conducted per day over the previous week. That's near Whitmer’s short-term goal of 15,000 a day but short of the 25,000 she said could be done.
