CDC also gives priority virus testing status to first responders
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated priorities for testing patients with suspected COVID-19 infection to include first responders with symptoms following a bipartisan letter urging the change from 34 U.S. House members, including U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore.
“Every day in every community across our country, emergency personnel are sacrificing their own health and safety to protect our communities,” Scanlon stated in a release. “We must ensure we are providing them the utmost protection for their individual health and well-being throughout this public health emergency and ensuring our communities continue to be protected during this vulnerable time.”
The letter to Vice President Michael Pence and CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield noted that CDC guidance leaves testing decisions to the discretion of state and local health departments or individual clinicians, but argued that the CDC, as the nation’s leader in infectious disease mitigation, could be highly influential in how local authorities dictate use of a limited number of available tests.
“While every effort should be made to ensure wide-spread access to testing for every member of our public, prioritizing first responders for testing during our current time of testing shortages would give the assurance needed for these workers to either continue with self-quarantine measures or return to the invaluable work for which they are desperately needed,” the letter stated.
“Firefighters, police officers and first responders across our nation are on the front lines of assisting citizens during this pandemic and it is absolutely essential that they have access to coronavirus testing so they can continue to execute their duties in the field without fear of infecting the communities they serve,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-2 of Colorado. “Since the beginning of this pandemic we have fought to ensure adequate protections for our first responders and firefighters and we’re grateful for the CDC’s change to accommodate our request and ensure first responders are given high priority for testing.”