Is Trump America's biggest COVID-19 response challenge? Here's why States scramble for aid

Between April 2 and April 3, United States set a new global record with as many as 1,480 COVID-19-related deaths in under 24 hours, leaving hospitals and healthcare workers who are more susceptible and vulnerable to the pandemic scramble for medical equipment. 

As the Coronavirus continues to escalate in regions across the US, Governors and State officials struggle to find medical resources such as personal protective gears for workers and more essential equipment such as ventilators for patients. According to international media reports, as the country descends into unprecedented chaos, States and hospitals compete for rare supplies, in the absence of adequate federal support.

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Free-for-all bidding complicates America's COVID-19 response

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated to an international news daily that the projection model the State faces is witnessing the apex of the crisis anywhere between 7-21 days. It has been reported that States are made to fend for themselves to get the medical equipment they need—and several politicians, as well as celebrities, have levied sharp criticism on the Trump administration for treating the pandemic lightly and making a hard situation even worse.

'It's like being on eBay with 50 other states bidding on a ventilator and you see the bid go up because California bid, Illinois bid, Florida bid, New York bids, California rebids. That's literally what we do. I mean, how inefficient. And then FEMA gets involved and FEMA starts bidding,'  reported news agency AFP while quoting Cuomo.

'I can't find any more equipment. It's not a question of money', lamented Cuomo. 'We need the federal help, everyone's "begging" the federal govt to use wartime law and ensure the US has the gear it needs to battle the Coronavirus', he added.

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FEMA and federal govt's help counterproductive?

The Governor's pleas are echoed by other State leaders, including Democratic presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden, who has called on the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act to order companies to mass-produce medical supplies.

In an extraordinary development, Illinois Governor Pritzker in a news briefing requested nail salons, tattoo parlours and elective surgery centres to donate their stockpiles of maks and gloves while they remain closed for business to support the fight against the virus.

After much persuasion, while the federal govt has stepped up and started sending supplies to States, the administration has also driven the pries and are directly competing with States in a free-for-all bidding war. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), should have ideally been the sole purchasing agent which then allocates equipment to the States in need, however, FEMA is creating a situation where 'the 50 states are competing with each other, what sense does this make?', quipped Cuomo.

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America's biggest challenge to COVID-19 response is Trump

While not all States are facing dire lack of assistance, several critics of the Trump administration, including Cuomo have alleged that the Trump-friendly States have received 100% of their requests, some even more than necessary, whereas other States have only received a fraction of what is needed. It is imperative to note that the States receiving more help, while there's no direct evidence, happen to be Republican States.

A White House official reportedly told Washington Post that 'in Florida’s case, Trump diverting an adequate supply of resources there is also, naturally, a way to help shore up his reelection bid. 'The president knows Florida is so important for his reelection'.

It is worth noting that South Korea and the US discovered COVID-19 on the same day, however, despite the proximity of the former to China, it has managed to contain the virus with significantly fewer deaths, than the US. At the time of this publication, the death toll in the US hit 7,000 whereas the number of fatal cases stands at 177 in South Korea.

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