An open letter to Gov. DeSantis
To the editor:
Thank you for requesting that President Trump declare a Major Disaster in the State of Florida in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and taking steps to secure more personal protective equipment for health care workers. But, these important steps are not enough to address this crisis.
What’s needed now is immediate and widespread testing, and a system of contact tracing to find everyone who is infected and needs to be isolated. With a population of over 21 million here in Florida, your request for an additional 2,500 test kits is inexplicably low. Without the capability to find the majority of COVID-19 carriers and their contacts, both economic and human suffering will result.
Additionally, you are asking Floridians to face this risk while opposing expanded Medicaid, leaving approximately 1.25 million Floridians who are too poor for ObamaCare but earn too much to qualify for standard Medicaid without access to healthcare of any type. The experience of the 37 states that have expanded Medicaid is a witness to its success, and you owe it to your constituents to follow suit.
We are your constituents and we vote. My family implores you to step up to this unprecedented challenge.
Susan McGuire
Bokeelia