September 18, 2020 the Honorable Alex Azar Secretary U.S
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September 18, 2020 The Honorable Alex Azar Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20201 Dear Secretary Azar: We are writing in support of Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s letter of August 21, 2020, in which he raised concerns over the federal government’s actions to divert necessary COVID-19 testing supplies away from Pennsylvania. These actions—particularly the diversion of supplies and reagents manufactured by Hologic and Roche—have made it harder for hospitals and laboratories in our state to keep up with the demand for COVID-19 tests, thereby jeopardizing the progress Pennsylvania has made in curtailing the spread of this virus. We echo Governor Wolf’s concerns, and request your prompt attention to this matter. Pennsylvania was one of the earlier and harder-hit states in the pandemic. As of writing, the state has seen 148,683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 7,934 deaths.1 While the daily reported numbers of new cases and deaths has decreased significantly from their peak in April, hundreds of new COVID-19 cases continue to appear each day. The state’s ongoing containment efforts will be severely hampered if adequate testing is not available. Hospitals across Pennsylvania have reported testing supply diversions or stoppages at the order of the White House, forcing providers who would normally be able to obtain COVID-19 test results within 24 to 48 hours to send specimens to outside laboratories, including Quest and LabCorp. This increases the risk of delays in getting test results to patients, which in turn increases the risk of continued viral transmission in Pennsylvania homes and communities. When hospitals can no longer use their own testing platforms and are forced to use outside laboratories to process tests, patients lose time in getting treatment, and contact tracing is delayed. Additionally, patients are further putting off non-COVID-related procedures requiring a negative test while they wait for their test results. Our state—and our country—cannot afford these unnecessary delays. One recent report estimated that we should be performing at least 200 million tests per month in the United States in order to screen for COVID-19 in our schools and nursing homes alone. That is almost ten 1 Pennsylvania Department of Health, “COVID-19 Data for Pennsylvania,” https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx. Accessed September 18, 2020. times more than what we are currently performing.2 The lack of a robust, streamlined supply of tests and testing supplies impedes our ability to safely reopen schools, businesses, and our economy. Hospitals that have made financial investments in testing platforms, such as the Hologic and Roche instruments commonly used in our state, depend on a continuous pipeline of supplies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Diversions or stoppages directed by the White House create unnecessary shortages and slow Pennsylvania’s work to increase testing capacity, prevent further spread of the coronavirus and reopen our economy. Our public health officials at the state and municipal level must be able to make informed decisions to limit the spread of COVID-19. We request that the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services cease the diversion of the critical supplies Pennsylvania needs to protect our constituents, including COVID-19 testing supplies, and to reallocate materials to states fairly and transparently. Further, we request that the federal government work with us and with the Wolf Administration to expand testing capacity in Pennsylvania by ensuring a reliable stream of testing supplies to our state Department of Health, and to health care and long-term care providers throughout the state. Thank you for your attention to this request, and we ask for a response no later than September 30, 2020. Sincerely, ___________________________ ___________________________ Robert P. Casey, Jr. Chrissy Houlahan United States Senator Member of Congress ________________________ ___________________________ Madeleine Dean Mike Doyle Member of Congress Member of Congress ___________________________ ___________________________ Dwight Evans Susan Wild Member of Congress Member of Congress 2 Christina Silcox, et al., Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, “A National Decision Point: Effective Testing and Screening for Covid-19” (September 2020), https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/wp- content/uploads/2020/09/A-National-Decision-Point-Effective-Testing-Screening-for-Covid-19-Full-Report.pdf. 2 ___________________________ ___________________________ Conor Lamb Mary Gay Scanlon Member of Congress Member of Congress ___________________________ ___________________________ Brendan F. Boyle Matt Cartwright Member of Congress Member of Congress 3 .