Tester Announces Shipment of 17,000 Testing Swabs for COVID-19

Senator: “I am going to keep holding Washington accountable until it provides more testing resources and protective equipment to our state”

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has shipped 17,000 coronavirus testing swabs to Montana.

“Public health experts are crystal clear: we need more testing capacity if we are going to defeat this virus and open up our economy,” said Tester. “These swabs are a start, but I am going to keep holding Washington accountable until it provides more testing resources and personal protective equipment to our state so we can slow the spread of disease and begin to safely reopen our economy.”

Tester has been pushing hard to make sure all health care workers and providers receive the resources they need in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Just this past week, Tester helped push to include $75 billion for hospitals as well as $25 billion for testing into the interim coronavirus relief package after Senator Mitch McConnell’s initial legislation proposed no money for health providers.

He has also been personally urging Vice President Mike Pence to ensure the federal government fulfills its obligation to address the shortages of badly-needed medical supplies, test kits, and personal protective equipment for Montana’s frontline health workers and pressuring the Administration to prioritize rural providers when allocating resources for health providers. He has led the charge in pushing the federal government to make full use of its powers under the Defense Production Act to centralize supply chains of critical resources.

Tester has been working tirelessly to ensure that Montana is prepared to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. After 72 hours negotiating substantial, bipartisan improvements to COVID-19 stimulus legislation, Tester voted to deliver critical, urgent relief to Montana workers, families, small businesses, hospitals and others hardest hit by the outbreak. This funding includes $1.25 billion for the state of Montana.

Visit tester.senate.gov/coronavirusresources for a list of resources for Montanans during the COVID-19 outbreak