Seven Takeaways From Today’s Coronavirus Hearing with Governors
Whitmer: US Lost “Valuable Time” Early On
Whitmer Calls Out Feds For Lack of Testing Supplies
Earlier today, the Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing with governors to hear how they are battling coronavirus.
See below for seven key takeaways from the hearing:
1. Governor Whitmer called early PPE supplies “dangerously insufficient” and said the federal government told states they were on their own on acquiring needed medical supplies.
- Governor Whitmer said: “The federal government delivered several allocations of PPE from the Strategic National Stockpile, but they were dangerously insufficient to meet our needs in the early days of the virus’s threat.”
2. Governor Whitmer and Governor Polis blasted the Trump administration for failing to give states accurate information and transparency on supplies being made available to states.
- Governor Whitmer said: “I’ll just say that uncertainty about supplies, however, and the federal government’s role in directing the allocation of these supplies has really undermined our ability to coordinate a testing strategy. In the early months of the pandemic, testing supplies were extremely limited, information was scarce and the federal government’s role in supporting testing was narrow.”
- Governor Polis said: “The most important thing that we could do better with on the federal side is transparency and really knowing what we’re gonna get when, consistency and transparency. A lot of discussions that left us as a state not knowing, not with a no, not with a yes. Are there going to be masks? Are there going to be tests? Delivery dates that weren’t met.”
3. Governor Whitmer called out the lack of a national testing strategy.
- Governor Whitmer said: “We need the White House to create a specific, long-term plan outlining how the federal government will ensure we have adequate testing supplies so we can gather the data we need to make informed decisions about re-engaging our economies. And we would all benefit from a guarantee of free testing nationwide coupled with a robust federal messaging campaign to encourage Americans to get tested.”
4. Governor Whitmer stressed that testing is the “most important thing” that states need to stop the spread of coronavirus — but the Federal government has not made enough supplies available to states to scale up testing to the needed level.
- Governor Whitmer said: “I would just submit that a national strategy to ensure that we have these test kits is the most important thing that the federal government really needs to take the reins on. Having states bid against one another for supplies has created a shortage, has driven up the price and has left us with deep and serious holes in our national policy.”
5. Governor Whitmer said that the US lost “valuable time” in the beginning of the crisis
- Governor Whitmer said: “The United States lost valuable time in the early days of COVID-19 when we could’ve been planning, when there could’ve been a national strategy.”
6. Governor Whitmer repeatedly discussed the need for more swabs in order to increase testing and highlighted the ongoing unproductive competition between the Federal government and the states.
- Governor Whitmer said: “Swabs are absolutely essential to conduct the test. Right now in Michigan we have the capacity to do about 25,000 tests a day, but we’ve come close to hitting that capacity. The federal government has offered, and we are grateful for the commitment to send us these materials, but oftentimes the shipments don’t reflect what we expect or the diversity of types of swabs that we need.”
7. Governor Polis warned that the first coronavirus wave is still “not over” and stressed that now is not the time to do away with measures that would prevent new coronavirus infections.
- Governor Polis said: “The first wave is not over. While the overall trends are getting better, it is still on the uptick in a number of places. Mask wearing is absolutely critical and modeling mask wearing at all levels of civil society, including those who have a soapbox like yourselves, those who serve in congress. I certainly model mask wearing also because, by the way, I want to protect myself and my family. But I also want to model it for the general public. And of course building social distancing into how we do work.”