The new White House line is that the American people don’t need coronavirus testing. They just have to close everything down for 15 days.
Pence said during Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing:
It’s important the American people understand that testing is happening all over the country. But all of our health experts wanted me to tell the American people, you don’t need the results of testing to know what you should do. President Trump’s 15-day coronavirus guidelines are advice for every American in every community. They’re the result of the best guidance of CDC and our health experts.
As the president said, we continue to urge every American over the next 15 days to put into practice the principles in the president’s coronavirus guidelines. By every American practicing these principles, we believe that we can slow the spread of the coronavirus. In fact, our experts have told our task force that, if every American acts on the president’s coronavirus guidelines, we could see a substantial reduction in the spread of the coronavirus.
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Pence cites unnamed health care experts to suggest that the American people don't need a coronavirus test. They just have to follow the 15-day guidelines. pic.twitter.com/QuDIt6Xy7U
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 17, 2020
The new White House line is that the American people don’t need testing, even though they are ramping up testing. It is more political spin from the administration. The country needs more and lots of testing because that is the only way to determine how bad the epidemic is.
The coronavirus isn’t going to go away if everyone stays in the house for two weeks. The administration still has not increased the production of needed medical equipment or helped hospitals increase their capacity.
The lack of testing is a way for the Trump administration to hold down the number of reported cases. The American people need to get tested, and since most people aren’t going to follow the CDC recommendations, one can expect that the coronavirus will get much worse before it gets better.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
