Federal support for local testing sites is extended.

White House reverses course on handing over 7 federal COVID-19 sites to Texas for 2 weeks

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is extending support for seven testing sites in Texas for two weeks, reversing course after intense bipartisan pushback over its plan to hand the sites over to the state at the end of the month, just as COVID-19 cases are surging.

Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement Friday that the federal government had agreed to continue supporting the sites amid the spike in coronavirus cases. The sites include four in Harris County, which administer thousands of tests per day, including two in

Houston that are the city’s largest test sites and considered the backbone of the city’s testing operation.

The announcement comes just two days after a Trump administration official told reporters that state leaders including Abbott had told him the state was “happy” to take control of the sites and provide the funding for them, despite calls from the city, the state Legislature and Congress to reconsider.

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, both Republicans and allies of President Donald Trump, joined those calls Thursday saying pulling federal support for the sites is “a risk that is not worth taking” at this time.

Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary Brett Giroir said in a statement the plan was changed after the federal government received an extension request from the state Thursday. The two-week extension comes with an assurance from Giroir that the administration will “continue to closely monitor COVID-19 diagnoses and assess the need for further federal support of these sites as we approach the extension date.”

“Growth of COVID-19 cases is an extremely concerning public health issue,” Giroir said in the statement. “The Trump administration fully supports the public health needs of all states includ

ing the State of Texas as they respond to the recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.”

Cruz said the Trump administration made the right call, saying “our fight against the coronavirus isn’t over, and it is important to provide state and local officials every tool available to protect public health.”

“We must remain vigilant as we work to defeat this virus and get our economy back on its feet,” he said. “Testing is crucial to those endeavors.”

The federally supported sites

at Butler and Delmar stadiums are by far Houston’s largest, administering up to 500 tests each per day. The two Harris County sites — at the San Jacinto College campus in Pasadena and Pridgeon Stadium — administer around 750 tests each per day. All four federally support sites have been reaching capacity by 1 p.m., officials said.

Local officials had vowed to keep the sites open, but said doing so would drain much-needed resources as the city and county work to expand testing sites and build up a contact tracing network.

The Trump administration has long planned to end federal support for the sites, which officials

say are part of a “now antiquated program” the federal government is moving away from as it works to expand testing options elsewhere, including partnering with pharmacies.

The administration extended support for the sites once before, in April, when it pushed the deadline back to the end of June.

Federal officials have said the federal government continues to send testing supplies to the state and has provided billions to help state testing efforts.

While the plan to hand the sites over to local control sparked warnings of “catastrophic cascading consequences” from local officials, including Houston Health Authority David Persse,

U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Houston Republican, said in a video announcing the extension that the state has been “well aware” of the plan and “totally prepared for it, as well.”

Crenshaw said the most significant change would be 12 federal employees who would be replaced by state employees.

“Federal support for COVID-19 testing sites in Houston is being extended, and we are thankful to HHS for doing so,” Crenshaw said in a tweet. “But the fear-mongering and disinformation over the transition to local control — something Texas was fully prepared for — was unacceptable."