ESPAILLAT, MENG Y BOWMAN ENCABEZAN CARTA A BIDEN SOLICITANDO QUE SE LLEVEN A NYC SUFICIENTES KITS DE PRUEBA DE COVID-19

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Con los casos de COVID-19 aumentando en Nueva York, los congresistas estadounidenses Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Grace Meng (D-NY) y Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) dirigieron una carta al presidente Biden esta tarde agradeciéndole por tomar medidas para abordar dichos aumentos y solicitar que se lleven los tan necesarios kits de prueba a la ciudad de Nueva York.

"Aplaudimos su anuncio de tomar nuevas medidas que mantengan a los estadounidenses a salvo de la variante ómicron, incluido el uso de la Ley de Producción de Defensa para acelerar aún más la producción de kits de prueba adicionales lo más rápido posible", escribieron los legisladores. “Alentamos respetuosamente a su Administración a que lleve los kits de prueba necesarios a la ciudad de Nueva York, ya que se requerirán kits de prueba adicionales en los próximos meses para proteger a las personas y las comunidades de enfermedades graves. El viernes se estableció la marca del día de pruebas más alto reportado en la ciudad de Nueva York desde el comienzo de la pandemia. En la ciudad de Nueva York, las filas para las pruebas dan la vuelta a las manzanas de la ciudad. Nuestros constituyentes informan tiempos de espera de más de una hora, más de dos a tres horas en algunos lugares. Otros informan que viajan a más de tres sitios de prueba diferentes mientras la frustración continúa aumentando a medida que los sitios de prueba en los cinco condados se están quedando sin pruebas. Sobre la base de sus éxitos en la lucha contra el virus, debemos asegurarnos de que ciudades como la ciudad de Nueva York tengan acceso a una cantidad suficiente de pruebas para satisfacer las demandas del aumento de casos por ómicron”.

Los miembros del Congreso que se unieron a la carta de Meng-Bowman-Espaillat incluyen: Reps. Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Thomas Suozzi (NY-03) y Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08).

Puede ver una copia de la carta aquí y el texto de la correspondencia se encuentra a continuación.

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Dear President Biden,

Thank you very much for your leadership to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We applaud your announcement to take new steps that keep Americans safe from Omicron, including using the Defense Production Act to further accelerate production of additional testing kits as quickly as possible. We respectfully encourage your Administration to steer the necessary testing kits to New York City as it will require additional testing kits in the months ahead to protect people and communities from severe illness.

From getting shots into arms, to requiring masking, your Administration has taken these steps and other actions to provide protection from the virus. Nevertheless, the Omicron variant presents us with new challenges. Last Friday, New York State reported 21,027 new positive cases of COVID-19, a new single-day record. Of those new cases, New York City represented almost half. With the rapid spread of the virus comes increased demand for COVID-19 testing.

Friday marked the highest reported testing day in New York City since the beginning of the pandemic. In New York City, lines for testing have wrapped around city blocks. Our constituents report wait times well over an hour, upwards of six hours in some places. Others report traveling to upwards of three different testing sites as frustration continues to mount as test sites across the five boroughs are running out of tests. At-home COVID-19 testing kits are also becoming scarce at pharmacies, leaving New Yorkers with few testing options before holiday travel commences.

Throughout this pandemic, New York City has served as the bellwether for the state of the pandemic, and an indicator of the steps we need to take to address a rise in cases nationally. As we head into a busy holiday season in which many New Yorkers are grieving someone they lost to the pandemic, the proactive, preventative steps we take now to make testing truly accessible can save lives and prevent a deadly repeat of 2020. We further emphasize the need to ensure at-home tests are made available free of charge to remove barriers that may otherwise prevent people from receiving the care they need and keeping our communities healthy and safe. We sincerely appreciate that the Administration invoked the Defense Production Act in February and has procured to date nearly $2 billion in rapid point-of-care and over-the-counter at-home COVID-19 tests from multiple COVID-19 test manufacturers. Building on your successes in the fight against the virus, we must ensure cities like New York City have access to a sufficient number of tests to meet the demands of the Omicron surge.

Ensuring our communities have adequate COVID-19 testing stockpiles will ensure that those seeking to travel or spend time indoors can do so safely after securing a negative test result.

Thank you again for your leadership to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to continuing to work with you to defeat this virus and heal from the trauma it has inflicted.

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