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Meng Calls for Greater White House Response to COVID-19 Outbreak in Long Term Care Facilities in N.Y.

April 15, 2020
QUEENS, NY – U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) today called for a greater White House response to the COVID-19 outbreak in long term care facilities in New York. She issued the following statement.
"New York is the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is the hardest hit area and needs more resources and funding, not just for our hospitals, but our long term care facilities where the most vulnerable population resides. I have heard from constituents about the dire situation in nursing homes – staffing shortages, lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and the need for testing, all of which are not to blame nursing facilities, but the White House's response to this public health emergency.
The dangerously delayed response of President Trump and his administration to effectively mitigate this crisis has killed thousands. We do not have sufficient testing capabilities, which means we cannot test everyone who presents COVID-19 symptoms or health care workers who work in high exposure areas. Consequently, it makes our fight against this highly contagious and invisible enemy even harder. We do not have enough PPE, which was the administration's responsibility to start procuring early in preparation of this crisis. As a result, long term care facilities have seen staff shortages and lost residents, and are now operating beyond their normal capacity with insufficient staffing and PPE to protect health care personnel and patients.
I am calling for the urgent need to turn our attention to saving long term care facilities, its staff and residents. I am calling for and working on more federal data on the effects COVID-19 has had on nursing homes. I will be fighting to increase mobile testing and prioritize nursing homes for tests as they become available. Today, I spoke with HHS Secretary Alex Azar regarding the issue of long term care facilities during a conference call I had with him, and I welcome any collaboration to help our nursing homes right now before more of our elderly population succumbs to COVID-19 complications."