The governors of Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia have formed a purchasing cooperative to fill a void created by a lack of a federal government strategy to purchase and distribute rapid-detection coronavirus tests, the Washington Post reports.
The governors–three Democrats and four republicans–hope to push private manufacturers of tests to speed the delivery of the testing machines and supplies, with states experiencing outbreaks getting priority for equipment and supplies.
Led by Maryland’s republican Governor Larry Hogan, who just stepped down as the head of the National Governors Association, the group secured financing from the Rockefeller Foundation, if it is needed.
“With severe shortages and delays in testing and the federal administration attempting to cut funding for testing, the states are banding together to acquire millions of faster tests to help save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19,” Hogan said in a statement. “We will be working to bring additional states, cities, and local governments on board as this initiative moves forward.”
“We are bringing together this bipartisan, multistate coalition to combine our purchasing power and get rapid testing supplies to our communities as quickly as possible,” Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia, a licensed physician, said. “The people in our … states want to see action, and we’re delivering.”