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As the virus is escalating, Donald Trump is ending federal funding for coronavirus testing in some of the nation’s worst hot spots.

NPR reported:

Some local officials are disappointed the federal government will end funding for coronavirus testing sites this Friday. In a few places those sites will close as a result. This as criticism continues that not enough testing is available.

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The agency and a spokesperson for FEMA say the CBTS program originally included 41 sites. It was intended as a stop-gap to bring testing to critical locations, especially for health care facility workers and first responders.

Without federal funding, testing centers will lose resources and some with have to close. The decision appears to be another step in the Trump plan to blame the states for the coronavirus. By limiting testing in some of the hardest-hit places, Trump will also limit the number of reported cases of the virus. Such a move could allow him to point to a false decline in cases that he could use in his argument to reopen the economy.

State and local governments are hemorrhaging money due to this crisis. Some will not be able to afford to fund the testing centers.

At a time when the nation should be expanding testing Trump is trying to end it to save his reelection campaign.

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