In addition to enacting the CDC effort to distribute tests.
That some of those tests were contaminated, or that the FDA may have made a hard call in proceeding with redistribution or calling an audible to multi-sourced testing, is a strategic problem.
But let's not say nothing was done. I'm sure there were plenty of sleepless nights at the CDC, before we even had confirmed US cases.
(Happened to drive by it today. And it's easy to forget that there are people, just like us, who are trying to do their best there. We all make mistakes. And sometimes we don't, but our bosses do, and we get blamed for it anyway.)
That's kind of like saying "I've got a motherboard, am missing an Intel CPU, but AMD has CPUs, so I'll just put one of those in there."
Rolling out testing on the scale that was obviously needed even then is a non-trivial thing, requiring coordination of multiple parties, all in a climate of dubious information.
So, yeah, I think it's understandable (a) to stick to a prearranged plan (to avoid the risk of debilitating testing chaos), (b) to desire a domestic supply of tests, & (c) to avoid drawing on a global resource when there was expected to be no need.
That some of those tests were contaminated, or that the FDA may have made a hard call in proceeding with redistribution or calling an audible to multi-sourced testing, is a strategic problem.
But let's not say nothing was done. I'm sure there were plenty of sleepless nights at the CDC, before we even had confirmed US cases.
(Happened to drive by it today. And it's easy to forget that there are people, just like us, who are trying to do their best there. We all make mistakes. And sometimes we don't, but our bosses do, and we get blamed for it anyway.)