Cori Bush Calls on Gov. Parson to Leverage Federal Aid to Address COVID-19 in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, MO — As Omicron ravages our communities and pushes St. Louis-area hospitals to the brink with hospitalizations as well as testing and staff shortages, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) sent a letter to Governor Mike Parson urging the state to formally request federal assistance to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congresswoman Bush has been working tirelessly since the Omicron variant surge to protect her community, writing that she has been “[meeting] with health experts, hospital leaders, and providers, including the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, to assess the needs of our region, and there is a desperate need for expanded testing to ease the burden on our hospitals, health centers, local clinics, and dedicated health care workforce.”
In today’s letter, the Congresswoman called on Governor Parson to take urgent action to mitigate further harm to her district by applying for the Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT) program through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help enhance Missouri’s capacity to meet the increased needs for rapid testing at no cost to the state.
As seen over the last two weeks in states such as Texas, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, and Nevada, and others, the federal government is prepared to immediately deploy support, including free COVID-19 testing sites, at the request of Governors.
On Wednesday, January 5th, Missouri reported over 38,000 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, adding to the staggering 1 million positive tests recorded in Missouri since March 2020. In St. Louis City, the current COVID-19 test positivity rate is 34 percent. In St. Louis County, the rate is 32.5 percent.
As of Monday, January 3rd, there were 964 patients, including 54 children in St. Louis area hospitals with COVID-19. While numerous organizations are pushing to get testing facilities up and running, the entire community is looking to their governor for desperately needed support and financing. Although Missouri has 150,000 COVID-19 tests stockpiled in its State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) warehouse, community members in the St. Louis region are unable to access testing — often waiting hours to receive a test or are unable to access a test at all.
Since taking office, Congresswoman Bush has prioritized bringing COVID-19 relief to St. Louis, delivering $700 million in relief for the St. Louis area through the American Rescue Plan — including $26 million for St. Louis area health centers and millions for local businesses, securing an 8-week-long FEMA mass vaccination site in downtown St. Louis City, and hosting virtual town hall meetings to share critical information to help keep the community safe.
On New Year’s Eve, Congresswoman Bush was joined by Mayor Tishaura Jones and St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page in writing to Governor Parson to implore him to reauthorize a COVID-19 state of emergency to provide hospitals with much needed support to serve the community. The Governor refused to do so, despite record-breaking COVID-19 cases in the state.
The full text of the letter can be found here or below.
###
Congresswoman Cori Bush sits on the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, serves as the Progressive Caucus Deputy Whip, and proudly represents St. Louis as a politivist in the halls of the United States Congress.
—-----
The Honorable Michael L. Parson
Governor
State of Missouri
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Dear Governor Parson,
I write today in response to the ongoing public health crisis that is wreaking havoc in our communities in St. Louis. Just this week, Missouri has reported over 38,000 new COVID-19 cases, adding to the staggering 1 million positive tests recorded in Missouri since March 2020. It is clear that we have entered a new and highly transmissible phase of the pandemic, which requires urgent action to mitigate further harm to our communities.
As the public health emergency evolves, so too must our approach in order to prevent the loss of life and health of Missourians. Residents need public officials at every level of government—federal, state, and local—to work together to direct our full power to ending this pandemic. I strongly urge you to formally request a federal COVID-19 testing site for St. Louis, as well as the deployment of federal medical personnel—military doctors, nurses, and EMTs—to assist our overburdened hospital systems and help enhance testing and staffing capacity across the St. Louis region.
Over the past few weeks, Omicron has led to record infection rates and hospitalizations in St. Louis. In fact, the St. Louis region is now reporting over a 30 percent COVID-19 positivity rate. Additionally, earlier this week area hospitals surpassed more than 1,000 current hospitalizations for the first time since the pandemic began. Our local hospitals are being stretched to the brink with 87% of hospital beds and 83% of ICU beds currently occupied, and the rising infection rates among health care workers has resulted in staffing shortages that, if left unaddressed, will prevent our hospitals from being able to adequately meet patient needs.
Moreover, we are seeing an increasing number of pediatric hospitalizations that will further extend our hospital capacity, especially while we wait for vaccine authorization for children under 5 years old. In this moment of crisis, we cannot afford to scale back our efforts to respond to this pandemic — we must do everything we can to meet the needs of our communities, particularly those that have been hardest hit by this public health emergency.
Fortunately, the Biden-Harris Administration has committed to providing states with essential resources to address this emergency, including deploying additional medical personnel, expanding hospital capacity, and standing up federal testing sites and pop-up vaccination clinics. Missouri must take advantage of these resources and deliver increased support for St. Louis and all communities in need.
Specifically, the Increasing Community Access to Testing (ICATT), a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) program developed for rapid COVID-19 surge response, can be requested to help enhance our capacity to meet the increased needs for rapid testing. The ICATT program is but one of many tools at your disposal to implement a comprehensive approach to curbing the current Omicron surge. Applying for this program will cost Missouri nothing, but doing nothing will undoubtedly cost people their lives.
The federal government is prepared to immediately deploy support at the request of Governors, and over the last two weeks have stood up free COVID-19 testing sites in several states, including Texas, New Jersey, Maine, Delaware, and Nevada, among others. Missouri must not waste any more time in securing these lifesaving resources.
Since the Omicron surge, I have met with health experts, hospital leaders, and providers, including the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force, to assess the needs of our region, and there is a desperate need for expanded testing to ease the burden on our hospitals, health centers, local clinics, and dedicated health care workforce. Despite over 150,000 at-home test kits currently sitting in the State Emergency Management Agency warehouse, St. Louisans report experiencing difficulty accessing PCR tests. I implore the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) to oversee the management and distribution of the life-saving testing kits. The use of these measures will help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and be further enhanced by the federal government's commitment to mailing free, at-home rapid tests to millions of households over the coming weeks.
Lawmakers at every level must implement data-driven policies that match the scope and scale of the public health crisis. As we head into the third year of this pandemic, we have ample data from health officials, recommendations from advocates, and experience from impacted constituents about how to curb the spread of COVID-19. I look forward to working together to bolster the state’s rapid response with federal resources to address this crisis, save lives, and protect the health and well-being of our St. Louis community.
Sincerely,
CORI BUSH
Member of Congress