Tester: ‘We need to step it up big time’

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester blasted the federal response to the COVID-19 virus outbreak in Montana during conference call with reporters last week.

At issue is the lack of personal protection gear for health care workers and the lack of testing for people who think they may have the illness.

Montana health officials notified the Federal Emergency Management Agency that the state needs approximately 460,000 protective N95 masks. FEMA promised 79,486 masks to the state, and then delivered only 10,870—a staggering shortfall, Tester said.

Tester said when he brought up the disparity to FEMA officials that they were “somewhat shocked” that Montana hadn’t gotten the masks.

The state then had to purchase additional masks from private suppliers.

Apparently the masks are being imported by FEMA by Pacific Rim countries, but then are handed over to private distributors once in the U.S.

From there, Tester claimed, there was no oversight. He said they could have just as easily been re-exported to another country.

The next day, about 68,000 masks were delivered to the state. Republican Sen. Steve Daines took credit for that.

“Sen. Daines has been actively working to ensure Montana has N95 masks and additional PPE across the state to handle the coronavirus outbreak … top level officials and can confirm there will be a shipment of 68,000 N95 masks to Montana by the morning,” A Daines aide said in a release April 10. “The Senator secured $16 billion for personal protective equipment in the coronavirus economic relief package and will continue working to ensure Montana has the resources and PPE from that funding it needs to handle the outbreak.”

Tester also lamented the lack of testing availability. He said he had some symptoms himself of the novel coronavirus last month, but when he called his doctor to see if he should get tested, the doctor told him no — that tests were in short supply and they were needed for people with more severe symptoms.

Tester said he didn’t think he actually had the virus, but with the illness out there, your mind plays with you.

Outside of an actual vaccine, testing is seen the main device to get the economy rolling again.

He said mining officials in Butte, for example, were worried that if one employee got sick, it would shut down the mine.

But with testing, everyone could get tested and the employees who were positive could be taken out of the workforce and quarantined until they get better.

The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security was passed March 27, which included funds for testing, but many states like Montana still don’t have enough tests available, nearly two weeks later.

“We need to step it up big time,” Tester said. “We need to use the Defense Production Act.”

The Act requires businesses, regardless of financial loss, to produce needed supplies during a time of war.

Tester said the Trump Administration needs to make full use of the Act, for protective gear like masks and for testing.

But testing in Montana still is an issue, a month into the shutdown.

Gov. Steve Bullock said on a conference call last week that the state had received 15 of the Abbott Laboratories testing machines, which can turn a test out in as little as five minutes.

But those machines came with a limited number of actual testing kits, and more won’t be available for weeks, Bullock said.