United States President Donald Trump recently announced his plan to distribute 150 million coronavirus rapid tests to Americans across the country in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus.
However, experts have called the Republican leader's response as "inadequate" because of how late the decision to have mass testing is being made.
Mass tests distribution
According to USA Today, New York City Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters during a Monday press briefing that the key to avoiding the large number of COVID-19 clusters in the area is to act on them immediately.
In late August, Trump's administration revealed a $760 million deal with Abbott Laboratories to distribute antigen-based tests, which are faster testing kits than other commonly used PCR tests but are not quite as accurate.
During a speech in the Rose Garden on Monday, Trump said that he was pleased to reveal the planned distribution of the testing kits in the coming weeks. The U.S. president said about 100 million tests would be given out to states and territories first, and the remaining would be distributed to vulnerable institutions.
However, despite the decision to send out tests, schools across the United States have already been open for several weeks with no proper comprehensive testing access after Trump aggressively pushed for the reopening of the educational establishments, as reported by CNN.
The decision also contradicts Trump's frequent claim that more testing for the coronavirus would lead to more positive cases across the country.
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Several public health officials have expressed their concerns about the flu season coming amid the coronavirus pandemic and exponentially increasing the potential threat to Americans and the country's healthcare system.
A new national poll revealed that one in three parents said they would not be subjecting their children to a flu vaccine this year.
New coronavirus relief bill
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump's plan to distribute hundreds of millions of coronavirus tests also comes amid a new COVID-19 relief bill proposal by Democrats that would include $2.2 trillion in funds.
The coronavirus relief package, which was revealed on Monday evening, would provide another weekly $600 unemployment benefit. The proposal comes as a last-resort to revive negotiations between politicians on legislation that would support Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday evening, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin agreed to reopen negotiations on the coronavirus relief bill, said the speaker's spokesman in a post on Twitter.
Democratic officials say Americans need a massive relief package in order to survive the coronavirus pandemic. However, any legislation proposal will more likely face opposition from the GOP-led Senate as many Republicans have argued that a massive fund would be detrimental to the country's economy.
Pelosi told reporters on Monday that they can get the legislation through the Senate. She added it takes a lot of money to battle the economic devastation of the COVID-19 virus and keep people safe and secure. Pelosi noted that the proposal would also support the government during the upcoming November election.
