DOD says no demand for test kits while states and military lag far behind in testing

[Boats]

DOD says no demand for test kits while states and military lag far behind in testing
By: Abraham Mahshie - Washington Examiner - 05-08-20
Re: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...ind-in-testing

Most states are far behind the coronavirus testing that experts say is necessary to reopen safely, but test kits are not one of the items federal agencies have asked the Department of Defense to help acquire, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told the Washington Examiner at a recent Pentagon briefing.

“We've been looking at the entire chain of items needed for testing. So it's swabs, it's the medium for carrying it, it's the testing machines, it's professionals, whatever that is and how can we help,” Hoffman said. “I'm not aware of a demand on the test kit side of that as well at this point.”

White House Coronavirus Task Force member Dr. Anthony Fauci, since removed from daily briefings, said recently, the country needs to double its testing capacity to open safely.

Meanwhile, a study released Thursday by the Harvard Global Health Institute reveals that 41 states and the District of Columbia are not meeting the minimum level of testing required by May 15 to contain the virus in their states.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently sought President Trump's help acquiring test kits to meet his state's shortfall. After the April 21 White House meeting, Cuomo declared a partnership whereby the federal government would help obtain the test kits and the state would implement testing.

Neither have spoken publicly about the progress of that partnership, with New York testing about 22,000 per day, far below the Harvard study's recommendation of 112,000 daily tests.

Another Democratic-controlled state, Washington, said it is now testing just below the 6,600 people per day required, thanks in part to more federal supplies arriving to the state.

Washington is scheduled to receive 580,000 swabs and about 430,000 units of viral transport medium, according to Gov. Jay Inslee’s website.

The Pentagon has been using existing defense contracts under the Defense Production Act to acquire or invest in companies that produce urgently needed medical supplies.

To date, that has included $628 million in direct support to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Health and Human Services, which relay their needs to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon announced its first DPA Title III deal to ramp up test kit components April 29, a $75 million investment in Puritan Medical Products to increase its monthly output of test swabs from 20 million to 40 million.

Trump, for weeks, argued that the nation's testing regiment is just fine.

Last week, he entertained a revolving door of Republican governors at the White House, who each declared the same, challenging the notion of a nationwide test kit shortage.

“We’re going to have a lot more capacity going forward, but we still, right now, are able to meet the current demand,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the White House April 28. “The overall numbers of people who are seeking testing is not currently beyond our capacity.”

The Harvard study reports that Florida is conducting about 15,000 tests per day and needs to reach 24,000 by May 15 to safely reopen.

At the White House the day before DeSantis’s visit, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards highlighted his state’s federal partnership, noting the White House testing czar, Adm. Brett Giroir, agreed to supply Louisiana 200,000 tests per month to help reopen.

“That gets us to 43 out of every 1,000 tested every month,” said Edwards. “We believe that that’s sufficient for us to move forward, as we are able, to start reopening the economy. We know the lab capacity is there.”

Louisiana conducts about 5,000 tests per day, far below the recommended 22,000 per day.

The Pentagon told the Washington Examiner that test kits remain a priority for the Defense Logistics Agency, which arranges the contracts and investments, but HHS conducts the ranking of urgent items.

The agency is managed by the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, Ellen Lord.

“Ms. Lord continues to support the Department’s COVID Task Force and interagency to continue developing test kit requirements and industrial capacity,” said Lt. Col. Mike Andrews in an email.

Pentagon spokesperson Jessica Maxwell later clarified: “To be clear, HHS (not DoD) has the authority to rate items (set priorities) for medical equipment and supplies under the DPA.”

HHS did not respond to several interview requests from the Washington Examiner to discuss test kit demand.

Test kit needs of the Department of Defense “have been met,” Maxwell said, but later in the day, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley indicated the department needs to double its rate of testing from about 30,000 to 60,000 per week to meet its new force testing objectives.

“Thirty-thousand is really our capacity right now, and we're going to continue to build and build and build,” said Milley.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Personal note: What test kits? The VA won't even test you unless you got a cough or fever.
How do we know we are not carriers unless we get tested? Something is wrong with this picture? What will the white house do without tax payers to pay taxes? You kill off 1/3 of the country because you are unprepared? That sounds like a real issue to me. You wasted three months in doing something and at that time it spread all through the US. Mr. President you are not very wise by not listening to your scientist and professional medical teams. You want us all to wear mask and yet you don't - the Vice President now has the virus - are you next? What's good for the people should be good for the President your example makes it hard for people to see you with no mask yet you want to ticket us for not having a mask on? You have lead by example not just your best guess. People deserve the facts not the BS you're promoting each and every day.

P.S. Oh! By the way I just read that your personal military valet tested positive for coronavirus. Mr. President you are not immune your over 70 your very vulnerable at your age it could be life-threatening - you better get checked out - you could give it to your entire family just by being a carrier! Ya didn't think of that did you?

Boats