Business Leaders Warn Trump That Country Isn’t Ready To Reopen As Testing Failures Continue To Cripple Response

The New York Times: Coronavirus Testing Falls Woefully Short As Trump Seeks To Reopen U.S. 
As President Trump pushes to reopen the economy, most of the country is not conducting nearly enough testing to track the path and penetration of the coronavirus in a way that would allow Americans to safely return to work, public health officials and political leaders say. Although capacity has improved in recent weeks, supply shortages remain crippling, and many regions are still restricting tests to people who meet specific criteria. Antibody tests, which reveal whether someone has ever been infected with the coronavirus, are just starting to be rolled out, and most have not been vetted by the Food and Drug Administration. (Goodnough, Thomas and Kaplan, 4/15)

CNN: Trump Told Testing Is Key To Reopening During Business Panel Call 
In the first phone call convened between President Donald Trump and some members of his newly formed business council, industry leaders reiterated to the President what public health experts and governors have been telling him for weeks: that there would need to be guarantees of ramped-up coronavirus testing before people return to work, according to one person briefed on the discussions. The call, one of a series with various sectors on Wednesday, was the first task force teleconference aimed at devising a strategy for reopening the country. The call lasted for about an hour and had dozens of participants from the banking, food, hospitality and retail sectors, many of whom lauded the President and his administration for their efforts to combat coronavirus and jump-start the economy, this person said. (Salama, Liptak, Alesci and Collins, 4/15)

The New York Times: Trump’s ‘Opening Our Country Council’ Runs Into Its Own Opening Problems
Some business leaders had no idea they were included until they heard that their names had been read in the Rose Garden on Tuesday night by President Trump. Some of those who had agreed to help said they received little information on what, exactly, they were signing up for. And others who were willing to connect with the White House could not participate in hastily organized conference calls on Wednesday because of scheduling conflicts and technical difficulties. (Karni, Kelly and Gelles, 4/15)

The Washington Post: Trump Attempt To Enlist Businesses In Reopening Push Gets Off To Rocky Start
Across the business world, there was private unhappiness with how the White House handled the announcement of the advisory council — which it has dubbed its “Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups” — and others warned that Trump’s goal of a May 1 reopening date for much of the country was unrealistic. Many of the chief executives urged the White House to focus more on mass testing, according to several participants on the calls. (Costa, Parker, Dawsey and Sonmez, 4/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Business Leaders Urge Trump To Dramatically Increase Coronavirus Testing
In some cases, CEOs had been approached about getting on a call with the president and agreed, but had not been warned he would be announcing that they were on the task force. Some of those CEOs have already “delegated it downward”—meaning any participation will be from government affairs people, not the executives themselves, according to the representative. The purpose of the task force is twofold, according to White House officials: to solicit recommendations for how to open up parts of the U.S. economy and to respond to the economic damage already being inflicted by the outbreak. (Bender and Restuccia, 4/15)

The Hill: Senate Democrats Unveil Plan To Ramp Up Coronavirus Testing That Includes $30 Billion In Emergency Funding
Senate Democratic leadership rolled out a proposal on Wednesday to ramp up nationwide coronavirus testing, which public health officials have said will be key to lifting social distancing measures. The plan — unveiled by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and other members of leadership — would provide $30 billion in emergency funding to increase testing and build out a structure for administering tests across the country. (Carney, 4/15)

The Hill: GOP Chairman Warns: Without More Coronavirus Testing, Hard To Go Back To Work, School
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) warned on Wednesday that without an increase in coronavirus testing it would be difficult to start reopening the country, something President Trump has signaled he hopes happens soon. “Without more tests with quick results, it will be difficult to contain this disease and give Americans confidence to go back to work and back to school," Alexander, who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement. (Carney, 4/15)

More stories of ongoing testing troubles are reported —

The Hill: Lack Of Testing Supplies An Obstacle To Reopening Economy, Officials Say 
A lack of supplies like swabs and chemicals is a major obstacle to expanding COVID-19 testing in the U.S. and eventually reopening parts of the economy, health officials and governors said Wednesday. The pandemic has stressed the supply chains for items needed to collect and process patient samples, delaying results and making it impossible to determine how many Americans have the virus. (Hellmann, 4/15)

CNN: Decision To Ease Coronavirus Shutdowns Will Come Down To One Key Thing, State Officials Say
State officials struggling with how to ease coronavirus shutdowns without setting off another deadly wave of infections say the decision will come down to testing capabilities. More than 630,000 people have tested positive in the US with at least 30,844 deaths linked to the virus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. About 15% of those deaths -- 4,811 -- were reported Wednesday alone. (Karimi and Almasy, 4/16)