Closeness to Trump has determined which lawmakers can get tested for coronavirus more quickly: report

Despite weeks of crisis, it remains difficult for many people around the country to receive testing for the novel coronavirus. But some people have found it much easier to get testing than others.

On Wednesday, the Washington Postdocumented how some lawmakers and officials have gotten quick testing due to their proximity to President Donald Trump.

"Mulvaney is one of three President Trump confidants to get a coronavirus test while exhibiting no symptoms of the disease," wrote Juliet Eilperin, Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey, and Seung Min Kim. "And on Sunday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) announced he tested positive despite being asymptomatic, refusing to disclose how he was able to get tested in Washington on March 16."

"The easy access Paul and other high-ranking politicians have gotten to coronavirus tests highlights the extent to which members of America’s elite continue to have greater access to medical care during the pandemic, even as federal officials emphasize that testing should be reserved for health care providers and people who are seriously ill," they wrote. "Even in the nation’s capital, hospitals are reporting a shortage of tests and the protective gear needed to administer them."

"In the cases of Mulvaney, Trump’s incoming chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), White House medical staffers arranged for their tests on the grounds that they risked infecting the president," continued the report. "Both Meadows and Gaetz came into contact with someone at last month’s CPAC gathering who then learned he had contracted covid-19."

New York University clinical professor Robyn Gershon described this arrangement as a "horrible flouting of our public health recommendations."

You can read more here.