Trump , Facing Criticism , Says He Will Increase Swab Production

Trump , Facing Criticism , Says He Will Increase Swab Production

Governors say reopening their economies must be linked with wider testing for the virus but they continue to face shortages of supplies and testing kits.

President Trump on Sunday said the administration was preparing to use the Defense Production Act to compel an unspecified U.S. facility to increase production of test swabs by over 20 million per month.

The announcement came during his Sunday evening news conference, after he defended his response to the pandemic amid criticism from governors across the country claiming that there has been an insufficient amount of testing to justify reopening the economy any time soon.

“We are calling in the Defense Production Act,” Mr. Trump said. He added, “You’ll have so many swabs you won’t know what to do with them.”

He provided no details about what company he was referring to, or when the administration would invoke the act. And his aides did not immediately respond when asked to provide more details.

 

“We already have millions coming in,” he said. “He added, “In all fairness, governors could get them themselves. But we are going to do it. We’ll work with the governors and if they can’t do it we’ll do it.”

Public health experts have said testing would need to at least double or even triple to justify even a partial reopening of the country’s economy, and business leaders reiterated that message in a conference call with Mr. Trump last week.