The U.S. is on track this week to pass 10 million coronavirus tests conducted, President Donald Trump said in announcing that states would receive $11 billion in additional funding for testing. Trump also said daily tests nationwide would increase “substantially’’ from the current amount, which he pegged at about 300,000.
Anyone who gets near Trump or Vice President Mike Pence is routinely tested every day since multiple White House staffers tested positive. The U.S., however, is a long way from providing that amount of testing in workplaces across the nation. Harvard University researchers have concluded the country would need 5 million daily tests by early June.
The 1.3 million-plus confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. represent one-third of the world total. The U.S. total could rise substantially when testing becomes more pervasive.
