The Trump administration plans to buy 100 million swabs used in coronavirus testing and distribute them to states by the end of the year in the ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19, according to a report delivered to Congress Sunday that doubles down on the official stance that states, not the government, should bear responsibility for testing.
The 81-page document on testing was obtained by The Washington Post from a person who wasn't authorized to disclose it, reports the newspaper, and came on the Sunday deadline the lawmakers had set to federal health officials to turn in a national testing strategy.
The report was submitted to four congressional committees, as required by law, and not publicly.
According to the testing plan, all states should aim for testing at least 2% of their populations in May and June, and says that with federal support, "the state plans for testing will advance the safe opening of America."
The document also says that if 10% of the test results are positive for the virus over a week, that is “enough to assure broad coverage of the population," and that 41 states have reached that goal.
Democrats in Congress had been expected to respond to the report quickly but hadn't done so by Sunday night, reports The Post.
The report also includes actions the White House already has taken, and an assertion by assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Brett Giroir that the nation will be able to perform 40 million to 50 million tests a month by the end of this summer.