Despite White House promises, testing still falls short on Coronavirus

Even as the White House on Wednesday said American companies were dramatically expanding the reach of Coronavirus testing in the United States, complaints continued to pour in from elected officials in both parties around the country about delays in finding out if people had been hit by the virus.

"Testing is limited," said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R). "Our testing capacity is limited, it will in all likelihood remain limited."

"We aren’t testing enough," said Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL).

"Every part of the testing process needs to be sped up and improved," said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), a key ally of the President.

At the White House, officials again said testing is ramping up quickly, as they preached patience, explaining that tests are being focused in areas of need.

"You still may have difficulty getting tests in areas that do not have significant cases," said Dr. Deborah Brix, the head of the White House task force dealing with the Coronavirus.

"We've had them prioritize the regions where we need diagnosis," Brix told reporters.

But while average Americans waited, more high profile athletes in the National Basketball Association seemed to have quick access to the tests.

"Do the well-connected go to the front of the line?" one reporter asked President Trump.

"That does happen on occasion," the President noted. "And I've noticed where some people have been tested fairly quickly."

But Mr. Trump then quickly pivoted to point the finger of blame at his predecessor.

"We inherited a very obsolete system. This was a system that was out of date, obsolete, or it was a system that was never meant to take care of the kind of quantity, the number of people that we're talking about - millions and millions of people," Mr. Trump said.

But those answers weren't smoothing over complaints from within the GOP.

"Every county in the US should have a mobile testing center up and running by Friday," Sen. Scott argued on Wednesday.

"No excuses," he added.

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