--- title: "As Deaths Soar, Feds End Support for Coronavirus Testing Sites" description: "The US federal government is about to end funding for a number of coronavirus testing sites this Friday. A number of sites will have to close." date: "2020-04-09" modified: "2020-04-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/feds-end-support-coronavirus-testing-sites" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid-19" - "virus" --- # As Deaths Soar, Feds End Support for Coronavirus Testing Sites ![The US federal government is about to end funding for a number of coronavirus testing sites this Friday. A number of sites will have to close.]() *\Image: Taylor D. Slater/US Air Force\* The US federal government plans to end funding for a number of coronavirus testing sites this Friday, [according to *NPR*](). That means a number of sites across the country will have to close. Many others will need to shift to state support to stay open. The news couldn't have come at a worse time. The peak of the pandemic is quickly approaching in the US. Over 3,000 cases were reported in the country in just 24 hours. The total number of cases stands at over [430,000](), with almost 15,000 deaths at press time. "Many of the Community-Based Testing Sites (CBTS) are not closing, but rather transitioning to state-managed sites on or about April 10," a spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told *NPR*. But state funding might not be enough. "I am understandably disappointed that the supplies and federal contract for lab testing is ending just as we are heading into the surge here in southeastern Pennsylvania," Valerie Arkoosh, commission chair in Montgomery County in the Philadelphia suburbs told *NPR*. The HHS claims the move is to give each state more "flexibility and autonomy to manage and operate testing sites," while prioritizing specific needs of their communities. The news comes after U.S. President Donald Trump [removed the legal watchdog]() that oversees the $2 trillion coronavirus package on Tuesday by removing inspector general Glenn Fine from his role, undermining accountability and oversight over the distribution of a massive financial package. That move enraged the opposition. "President Trump is abusing the coronavirus pandemic to eliminate honest and independent public servants because they are willing to speak truth to power and because he is so clearly afraid of strong oversight," Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Schumer [said in a statement]() in response to Fine's removal. Trump also took aim at HHS principal deputy inspector general Christi Grimm. "Another Fake Dossier!" Trump wrote in a [Tuesday tweet](), criticizing a report recently released by Grimm that showed local hospitals were severely unprepared to fight the pandemic. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()