The administration’s guidelines for “Opening Up America Again” rely heavily on the ability of states to develop a robust COVID-19 testing capacity, and Congress is negotiating adding as much as $25 billion to this week’s funding bill to significantly expand testing.
Badger and Turner argue that a dramatic increase in coronavirus testing is needed before people will feel safe to return to work and the marketplace, but an equally dramatic shortage of testing capacity threatens to cripple the recovery.
Congress will deserve credit if supports funds to enhance the nation’s testing capacity, “but it’s unclear if $25 billion is the right amount or whether it is efficiently and appropriately allocated.”
