RI Lawmakers Call For Better Access To Coronavirus Testing

NEWPORT, RI — Two Rhode Island legislators are calling for Gov. Gina Raimondo to push harder for access to coronavirus tests to the state's most vulnerable residents. Low-paid essential workers, the elderly and others most at risk from the pandemic must be able to get tested quickly and easily, Rep. Julie Casimiro and Sen. Louis DiPalma said.

"As cases continue to rise at an astronomical rate, easy access to testing becomes more important by the day and to hear reports that our most vulnerable citizens are having great difficulty in getting tested, something needs to change and it needs to change fast," Casimiro said. "These are the low-paid essential workers who don’t have the luxury of working from home or children from broken homes or elderly residents on fixed incomes living by themselves or in congregate care. In order to combat this virus, testing is essential, but our efforts will be useless if our most vulnerable populations to this disease are unable to get tested or get their results in a timely manner."

Both lawmakers acknowledged that Raimondo's announced plan to re-vamp the state's testing structure by the end of the two-week pause is a good start, but said that vulnerable populations must be put at the forefront going forward.

"The reports of not being able to get tested easily are very disturbing and will pose a significant obstacle for our state to make it through this pandemic as best as possible," DiPalma said. "The governor needs to rethink the testing strategy so that those who are most at risk are able to easily be tested. We will continue to monitor the situation but make no mistake, in order for our state to recover in both a health and fiscal sense, our testing system must be changed so that the most vulnerable are protected as much as those who are more well-off."

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