Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Gov. J. B. Pritzker (D-IL) said that “governors have risen to the challenge” of the coronavirus pandemic while President Donald Trump “was not helpful.”
When asked if the federal government rose to the challenge of coronavirus, Pritzker said, “Well, it’s the governors who have risen to the challenge.”
He continued, “I talk to my fellow governors, Republicans and Democrats, and we’ve shared ideas with one another about how to keep people safe. We’ve gotten some guidance from the CDC that has been helpful, but much of what came out of the White House for many weeks was not helpful. We needed the White House to lead on the Defense Production Act to help us get swabs and VTM, and reagents, and that hasn’t much happened.”
He added, “Recently we got a call from the White House telling us in May they’re sending us 600,000 swabs, and I’m very grateful for that. We have overcome our challenges more recently and increased testing significantly. We’re among the top 10 states in America, and we’re number two for testing. We’ve got to get our contract tracing up and going, and then, as I say, we can reopen our economy as we see our hospitalizations begin to wane.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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