Trump Administration plans to end the funding for COVID-19 testing sites by the end of June.
A spokes person for Department of Health and Human Services while speaking to NBC news told that the federal government would come up with an alternative that involves broadening the community testing and with a more sustainable model.
The Trump-led government had initially planned to move the community-based testing program to local control in April itself but it didn’t receive the necessary support from the local law makers.
As of June 24, there are 13 federal testing zones in different states of the country including New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Colorado.
Following the announcement by Trump Administration on Wednesday, a spokesperson of Texas Republic, Sen. Ted Cruz, has urged HHS and FEMA to support the state with community testing sites.
Brett Giroir, the assistant HHS health secretary in a statement to press clarified that the federal government would not end funding for the testing sites but would extend the support to 600 sites in 48 states.
He said,”HHS will continue to increase testing capacity overall and it more accessible to undeserved communities”.
As of today, the US has recorded 2,422,55 confirmed cases and 124,424 deaths. The country witnesses 663,552 people recovering from COVID-19. As per the data, the US stands to be the worst-affected country followed by Brazil and Russia.
By Gayatri Yellayi
