By MATTHEW PERRONE, BRIAN WITTE and NICKY FORSTER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — As businesses reopened Friday in more of the U.S., an overwhelming majority of states still fall short of the COVID-19 testing levels that public health experts say are necessary to safely ease lockdowns and avoid another deadly wave of outbreaks, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan made headlines last month when the state acquired 500,000 test kits from a South Korean company in a confidential deal, but Maryland has not had all the components needed for testing — like swabs — to meet demand.
Administration officials said they will provide states with enough testing supplies to conduct about 400,000 tests per day in May and June.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state’s testing reached 35,000 daily this week and that more than 1 million tests have been administered.
The testing increases over the past few weeks contributed in part to Gov. Roy Cooper and state leaders feeling comfortable with easing his stay-at-home order May 8.
