WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema today discussed Arizona’s confirmed cases of coronavirus and thanked Arizona health officials for a thorough and swift response. In a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Sinema called on federal officials to communicate clearly with Arizonans about the coronavirus.
“I’d like to acknowledge the Arizona Department of Health Services, the Arizona State Lab, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and Arizona State University for their swift actions caring for Arizonans and limiting potential exposure to others in the community. We need to see the same level of cooperation and coordination on the federal level,” said Sinema.
Sinema questioned officials on how the federal government will prioritize potential vaccines and treatments once they are developed in conjunction with private sector partners. Sinema also highlighted the stories of Arizona constituents in quarantine and underscored the need for federal officials to be transparent about coronavirus treatment protocols.
Sinema recently introduced bipartisan coronavirus legislation with Republican Senator Deb Fischer (NE) to ensure critical respirators used to protect patients and keep health workers safe have liability coverage and are available for use by Arizona communities.
Currently, only FDA-approved surgical respirators have liability protections. Respirators used outside of surgery, including the N95 respirator, are not eligible for liability protections, putting manufacturers of respirators and health facilities that distribute these respirators at risk. Ensuring non-surgical respirators that are critical to protecting against the coronavirus have liability coverage will increase access to respirators, keep health workers safe, and help safeguard the health of all Arizonans.
Sinema has also added a resources page to her website, www.sinema.senate.gov, for Arizonans looking for the latest information on coronavirus.
