Despite clear evidence to the contrary and an admission from his own Vice President, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US has done an excellent job in testing people for the coronavirus. As early as January, the president said the situation was “totally under control”.
However, the numbers don’t lie as just over six weeks after he made this statement the United States has found itself the new global center of the pandemic with (as of the 31st of March) 164,435 cases of coronavirus and a terrifying 3,175 deaths.
The hard reality is that US healthcare providers faced a severe shortage of testing kits as coronavirus hit the country coupled with faults in the testing system and restrictions on who could actually take a test.
A wealth gap has also opened up with regards to the testing of citizens in these most troubling of times as the rich or famous were able to get tests while others, including those who are putting their own lives at risk to deal with the problem, struggled to do so.
As alluded to before, Trumps own VP, Mike Pence, admitted: “we don’t have enough tests today to meet what we anticipate will be the demand”. Dr Fauci even told a congressional hearing the US system was “not really geared to what we need right now” regarding the test kits. He added: “That is a failing. Let’s admit it.”
