White House testing and tracing guidance puts much of the burden on states

CBS News has obtained the White House’s new guidance given to states on how to test and trace for the coronavirus, a path forward that relies heavily on states with some assistance from the federal government. 

A significant amount of the text in the documents, crafted by the White House, highlight things the administration has already done in the testing sphere. And while the White House says it will support states with some resources such as tracing assistance from the Centers for Disease Control, many of the sentences in the guideline begin with the words “states should.”

At the same time, Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health, confirmed to CBS News that the Trump administration is prepared to send all 50 states enough tests to screen 2% of their population per month for the virus. Testing 2% of the U.S. population per month is roughly 6.6 million people per month. According to a call the Coronavirus Task Force had with governors, Giroir said the federal government will be acquiring swabs and shipping the to one spot in each state. 

Read the White House documents below: 

Governors are expected to come up with their own testing plans, and Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that governors are ramping up their testing quickly. The president has long put much of the onus on states to come up with the testing and medical supplies they need. 

A bill passed by Congress last week and signed by the president allots $25 billion to help fund testing. 

The White House documents say sates “must be able to proactively monitor for and respond to local outbreaks;” “develop innovative and robust systems to identify asymptomatic cases;” and develop rapid response programs that enable quick isolation and contact tracing of individuals who test positive.” 

This is a developing story and will be updated.