Policymakers have been talking to donors and people that influence their decisions with money, since that is the biggest risk to them in all this. We're supposed to believe that relief checks sent out when COVID numbers were actually lower, but conveniently around elections was about helping people. When elections come up again we'll be hearing about relief checks again. If this was about helping people they would have been sending out masks and had tests kits long ago, and relief wouldn't have stopped.