Joe Biden’s Testing Failure

H1N1 Testing Under Obama-Biden Administration Inferior to COVID Testing Under President Trump

Posted on Jul 9, 2020
By American Herald Staff

Joe Biden has not been shy when criticizing President Trump and his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic; juxtaposing the Obama-Biden administration’s response to H1N1 and claiming it was superior. But much like everything else Biden claims, he seems to be forgetting some crucial details.

Most recently, Joe Biden has ramped up his attacks on the Trump administration’s coronavirus testing procedures. Biden said, “The crisis in Arizona is the direct result of Donald Trump’s failure to lead and his desire to ‘slow the testing down,’ and Americans are suffering the consequences.”

Biden demanded the Trump administration “immediately resume operating federally-managed community-based testing around the country and establish multiple sites in Arizona” and “speed up the testing” nationwide.

We know Joe Biden has been locked up in his basement bunker, but that’s no excuse for being ill-informed. Let’s get the basic facts straight:

  • Thanks to efforts by the Trump administration, the United States is leading the world in testing and mortality rates are decreasing.
  • The United States has conducted more than 39 million tests, with more being administered every day.
  • The administration has rolled back federal red tape to ensure new and more innovative tests can get to the market as soon as possible
  • The FDA has authorized 166 different tests under Emergency Use Authorizations, including diagnostic, antibody, and antigen tests.
  • The Trump administration has broadened community-based testing to create a more sustainable model.
    • This includes continued support of retail and pharmacy partnerships in more than 600 locations.
    • Testing will continue to be offered at over 1,300 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) nationally.
  • Thanks to deregulatory action by the Trump administration, nearly 1,000 CVS stores will operate as testing sites through the traditional insurance and CMS billing structures.
    • Hundreds of more pharmacies are expected to follow this example in the coming months.
  • The administration continues to provide support to state and local leaders when it comes to implementing testing in their state.
  • The option to continue current drive-through testing sites is available for states through federal funding support from the CARES Act.

Biden doesn’t only have the facts wrong, he is unable to recall the Obama administration’s response to testing during the H1N1 outbreak. While Biden urges President Trump to ramp up testing, he conveniently forgets that in 2009, the Obama administration demanded that states shut down their testing without explanation.

While Biden claims that he would be more effective in testing at state and local levels, history tells a much different story. “In late July, the CDC abruptly advised states to stop testing for H1N1 flu, and stopped counting individual cases,” CBS News reported in 2009. “The rationale given for the CDC guidance to forego testing and tracking individual cases was: why waste resources testing for H1N1 flu when the government has already confirmed there’s an epidemic?”

CBS News continued their report saying that the decision to “stop counting H1N1 flu cases was made so hastily that states weren’t given the opportunity to provide input.”

Biden’s Chief of Staff and current health advisor, Ron Klain said in regard to the Obama-Biden response to H1N1 not being a mass American casualty event, “It had nothing to do with us doing anything right. It just had to do with luck.”

Biden has a lot to say and remains critical of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus, but history and the facts are not on his side. President Trump has worked to ensure that testing and treatment options (for those who need it) are available to every American. While Biden claims he is more suited to effectively handle the pandemic response, history shows us that his actions do not match his words. Biden’s righteous, virtue-signaling has shown Americans time and time again he is more concerned with appeasing the Washington establishment than delivering for the American people.