Originally published in The Daily Local

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th, of Easttown, and two colleagues sent a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar urging the Trump Administration to prioritize the creation of a national testing strategy to address shortfalls in COVID-19 testing.

“The way through this crisis is through a coordinated, national testing strategy that includes both serologic and diagnostic testing,” said Houlahan. “The key to enacting this strategy is a pipeline of qualified personnel able to implement it. I am calling on the Administration to enact this strategy and to develop a public health emergency task force that will be entrusted with carrying out these measures. We don’t have days to take action. We don’t have hours to take action. We need to act swiftly, now and deliberately. I’m proud to join my colleagues, Representatives Bera and Foster in this call to action. I will do everything I can to protect my community and Commonwealth and all Americans across the country.”

“As a doctor, I strongly urge the Administration to prioritize the creation of a national testing strategy, including the rapid and widespread deployment of serologic and diagnostic testing, ” said Rep. Bera. “Only with a national testing strategy will we be able to help states and communities identify who is infected and who may be immune, which will allow our country to soon get back on a road to economic recovery. An effective national testing strategy will also require a trained and dedicated personnel to implement it. I encourage the Administration to establish a public health workforce that would be used to conduct widespread contact tracing and to administer vaccines when available.”

“It’s crucial that we create and execute an effective national testing strategy that includes both rapid diagnostic and serologic testing,” said Rep. Foster. “When our communities begin to recover from this pandemic and we are ready to restart our economy, it will be essential that people have the peace-of-mind that antibody testing can provide so they can confidently reenter the workforce. As antibody testing becomes widely available, it is imperative that we have a national plan in place to prioritize antibody testing of medical workers, first responders, and those most at risk from COVID-19. At the same time we must employ rapid diagnostic testing so we can quickly identify COVID-19 clusters and take swift measures to protect communities. The federal government should immediately begin working with state and local public health officials to deploy the resources and manpower needed to carry out a comprehensive testing strategy. This must be followed by the ability for individuals to reliably certify that they are immune to COVID-19 so that they can return to normal life – especially for workers in critical industries like healthcare and food.”