The president’s directive got here after weeks of debating the issue, and as reviews have emerged of utmost shortages which have pushed health-care staff to create makeshift equipment like masks and security goggles.

Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized the president’s early dealing with of the COVID-19 disaster on Sunday, calling it “deadly” and warning the administration’s present delays in testing are costing lives.

“As the president fiddles, people are dying,” Pelosi advised CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”