WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema today asked the Veterans Health Administration about the VA’s preparedness and response plan for the coronavirus outbreak.
“Ensuring the VA is prepared to prevent, diagnose, and respond to the coronavirus outbreak will protect Arizona veterans, servicemembers, and their families and allow any affected individuals to receive timely supportive care,” said Sinema, a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
Given the VA serves thousands of Arizonans, Sinema and her colleagues asked in their letter what steps the VA is taking to protect the health and safety of veterans and staff against the Coronavirus. The letter encourages the VA to work with the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention and across all agencies on preparedness, and partner with Congress if there are resources and authorities they need to keep veterans safe.
As of February 11, there were 13 confirmed cases of the Coronavirus in the United States—seven in California, two in Illinois, and one each in Arizona, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Washington-state.
Earlier this month, Sinema joined a bipartisan and bicameral letter to the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention urging the quick distribution of rapid diagnostic tests for the Coronavirus to all states and local governments, with priority access to states with confirmed cases like Arizona. On February 5, the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention shipped testing kits to state public health labs, allowing local communities to run their own tests instead of waiting for the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention to process the results.
Read the full text of Sinema’s letter HERE.
