'Not There Yet,' Trump Administration Says On Coronavirus Testing

ACROSS AMERICA — A member of the White House coronavirus task force has said testing turnaround times are still not where they'd like them to be. Adm. Brett Giroir made the assertion while on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.

"We are never going to be happy with testing until we get turnaround times within 24 hours and I would be happy with point-of-care testing everywhere," Giroir said. "We are not there yet."

As the coronavirus case counts continue to surge in the southern United States, one state in particular has continued to report rising numbers. Florida, with more than 414,000 confirmed cases, has passed New York as the state with the second most positive cases and only trails California in the number of case counts, the New York Times database showed over the weekend.

Florida is followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Arizona in states reporting the most number of cases per 100,000 people.

As the number of cases climbs, so does the number of hospitalizations. Sunday afternoon the number of people known to be hospitalized with the coronavirus in the United States was 59,227, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

In Starr County, Texas, the situation is so dire that Pentagon officials sent Army and Navy personnel to a county hospital and other medical centers to provide support. State and federal officials have also sent morgue trailers, ventilators, testing teams and surgical masks to the Rio Grande Valley.

Meanwhile, a $600 weekly federal payment that provides additional aid to Americans unemployed due to the coronavirus pandemic will expire next week. However, talks in Congress — who spent the week negotiating an additional stimulus package that would aid cash-strapped Americans — came to an abrupt halt Friday as the White House and Senate Republicans struggled to find ways to scale back the enhanced unemployment program in its current form.

Additionally, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said reaching an agreement could take several weeks, The Washington Post reported, a timeline that could potentially leave more than 20 million unemployed Americans vulnerable and without aid.

READ: $600 Unemployment Bonus To Expire As Virus Threatens New States

As of Sunday evening, the U.S. had surpassed 4.2 million coronavirus cases and had reached 146,800 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

RELATED:

• Trump Now Says Some Schools May Need To Delay Opening
• Fauci: Hero Or Villain In The Politics Of A Pandemic?
• FDA Recalls 75 Hand Sanitizers Containing Methanol: The Full List
• President Trump Encourages Mask-Wearing
• 'I Don't Even Know Their Names': Coronavirus Survivor To Saviors
• A Consumer's Guide To Coronavirus Antibody Tests
• Protective Gear You Really Need During The Pandemic
• How To Avoid Body Aches And Pains While Working At Home

---

Follow live coronavirus updates at The New York Times or Washington Post.

Read More From Across America:

• CDC Vows To Address Inequalities Among Coronavirus Victims
• Florida Surpasses 400,000 Coronavirus Cases
  
• GA New COVID-19 Cases Fewer Than 2.8K Sunday; Only 3 Deaths
• Atlanta Mayor, GA Governor, Ordered Into Mediation Over Masks
  
• PA Reports Highest Coronavirus Case Increase In 10 Weeks
  
• MD Coronavirus Hospitalizations Down After 8 Days Of Increases
  
• Coronavirus: DC Residents Must Self-Quarantine After Traveling
• Collectible Baseball Cards Honor Dr. Anthony Fauci
• Illinois Sports Delayed Until 2021: IHSA Considering Possibility
• 2020 State Fair Of Virginia Canceled Due To Coronavirus
• RI Bars Could Soon Face Further Restrictions For Risky Behavior
• 5 Percent Of CT Residents May Have Had Coronavirus: CDC
• Santa Cruz Artist Creates 'Six Feet Saves' Hoodies