Coronavirus Live Updates: Despite Pushback, Trump Suggests Testing No Longer an Issue

President Trump told governors on a conference call Monday that he “hasn’t heard about testing in weeks,” suggesting that a chronic lack of kits to test people for the coronavirus is no longer a problem. But governors painted a different picture on the ground.

Gov. Steve Bullock of Montana, a Democrat, explained that officials in his state were attempting to do “contact tracing” — tracking down people who have come into contact with those who have tested positive — but they were struggling because “we don’t have adequate tests,” according to an audio recording of the conversation obtained by The New York Times.

Mr. Trump initially said that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, could respond to the question, but then quickly offered a rejoinder. “I haven’t heard about testing in weeks,” the president said. “We’ve tested more now than any nation in the world. We’ve got these great tests and we’re coming out with a faster one this week.” Reiterating his point, Mr. Trump added: “I haven’t heard about testing being a problem.”

Many people who have symptoms of the virus are still finding it difficult to be tested, and many who have been tested are waiting more than a week to get results. The failures of the federal government to adequately develop testing supplies for the contagion have been well-documented by The Times and other news outlets, reports that have rankled Mr. Trump.

Although testing has picked up since a series of setbacks left the United States behind, governors have continued to warn in recent days that their response is still hampered by shortages, including of basic supplies like swabs. Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington State told CNN Sunday that “we have a desperate need for the testing kits.” And Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia warned last week that there was a shortage of testing materials in his state.

The president has recently taken to pointing to the volume of tests that have been administered — a misleading figure since, according to health experts, the more relevant figure is how many people are being tested per capita. In that regard, the United States still lags well behind other nations like South Korea.

A White House spokesman, Hogan Gidley, described the call this way: “The governors praised President Trump’s leadership, assistance and quick action to address this national crisis, and the president told the governors he would make sure that whatever they may need, he would direct his team to provide.”

On the call, Mr. Trump mostly let a number of governors, Democrat and Re publican, do the talking and frequently deferred to his advisers on their questions and suggestions. For the most part, the governors thanked the president and vice president for their assistance and only gently offered criticism about the federal response.

But Mr. Bullock, who is running for the Senate this fall against an incumbent Republican, was more blunt than some of the other state executives about Montana’s need for federal help.

After Mr. Trump’s claim that the lack of tests was no longer a problem, Admiral Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health heading the testing effort nationally, jumped in to address the availability of “point-of-care” testing and the prospect of a new test which will issue results in a matter of minutes. He said such tests will soon be available in all 50 states.