- Mar 11, 2015
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We can't get tests but trump can all the time.
Capitol Lacks Tests for Returning Senators While White House Tests Many in Trump’s Circle
As senators prepare to return on Monday, Congress’s doctor warned that he does not have the capacity to test all 100 for coronavirus. At the White House, the president and many of his aides are tested repeatedly.
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Nicholas Fandos and Katie Rogers
Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the tight-lipped doctor who attends to Congress, sent up on Thursday what some have construed as a warning: His office, he told senior Republican officials on a private conference call, cannot screen all 100 senators for the coronavirus when they return to work on Monday.
Two miles down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, the story is very different. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are tested frequently, aides who come into close contact with them are tested weekly and the list of people who need to be tested daily keeps expanding, according to officials familiar with the process.
The stark contrast between the testing haves at the White House and the have-nots on Capitol Hill, first reported in Politico, makes clear that Mr. Trump’s pronouncement that “anybody that wants a test can get a test,” as he said on March 6 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is far from true. Although the rich and powerful are clearly favored, not even all the powerful have equal access.
And beyond whether people can be tested, there are questions about the tests available. At the White House, the medical unit is using a rapid-testing kit developed by Abbott, which yields results in about five minutes. But Dr. Monahan told the Republican aides on Thursday that he lacked such equipment, and that it would take at least two days to get test results.
www.nytimes.com
Capitol Lacks Tests for Returning Senators While White House Tests Many in Trump’s Circle
As senators prepare to return on Monday, Congress’s doctor warned that he does not have the capacity to test all 100 for coronavirus. At the White House, the president and many of his aides are tested repeatedly.
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Nicholas Fandos and Katie Rogers
Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the tight-lipped doctor who attends to Congress, sent up on Thursday what some have construed as a warning: His office, he told senior Republican officials on a private conference call, cannot screen all 100 senators for the coronavirus when they return to work on Monday.
Two miles down Pennsylvania Avenue at the White House, the story is very different. President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are tested frequently, aides who come into close contact with them are tested weekly and the list of people who need to be tested daily keeps expanding, according to officials familiar with the process.
The stark contrast between the testing haves at the White House and the have-nots on Capitol Hill, first reported in Politico, makes clear that Mr. Trump’s pronouncement that “anybody that wants a test can get a test,” as he said on March 6 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, is far from true. Although the rich and powerful are clearly favored, not even all the powerful have equal access.
And beyond whether people can be tested, there are questions about the tests available. At the White House, the medical unit is using a rapid-testing kit developed by Abbott, which yields results in about five minutes. But Dr. Monahan told the Republican aides on Thursday that he lacked such equipment, and that it would take at least two days to get test results.
Capitol Lacks Tests for Returning Senators While White House Tests Many in Trump’s Circle (Published 2020)
As senators prepare to return on Monday, Congress’s doctor warned that he does not have the capacity to test all 100 for coronavirus. At the White House, the president and many of his aides are tested repeatedly.
