PRINTER'S NO. 1679
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
326
Session of
2020
INTRODUCED BY SANTARSIERO, MUTH AND DINNIMAN, MAY 8, 2020
REFERRED TO HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, MAY 8, 2020
A RESOLUTION
Urging the President of the United States, White House staff and
Federal public health officials to use the Federal
Government's power to order the manufacturing of essential
testing supplies, procure supplies for widespread testing and
direct needed resources to states, including Pennsylvania, to
mitigate additional exposure to COVID-19 due to widespread
business reopenings.
WHEREAS, On April 19, 2020, President Trump touted that
4,180,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted nationwide; and
WHEREAS, That figure represents only 1.27% of the
approximately 330 million Americans facing exposure to the novel
coronavirus, known as COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, The Director of the National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, optimistically
estimated that the COVID-19 vaccine could be 12 to 18 months
from development; and
WHEREAS, Consequently, without a robust testing solution to
trace and identify individuals who have been exposed to COVID-19
or have the antibodies to the virus, citizens of this
Commonwealth and our nation as a whole still lack confidence
that a broad-based reopening of the economy will not lead to an
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
increased exposure to COVID-19 and additional sickness and
deaths from COVID-19; and
WHEREAS, Many medical professionals agree that without
widespread testing for COVID-19, a broad reopening of our
nation's economy cannot be done in a safe manner; and
WHEREAS, Researchers at Harvard University recently suggested
that without tripling the daily COVID-19 testing being conducted
in the United States during the next month, our nation will be
unable to reduce our COVID-19 positive test rate to 10%; and
WHEREAS, The maximum COVID-19 positive test rate recommended
by the World Health Organization is 10%; and
WHEREAS, The United States is currently averaging 146,000
tests per day in the month of April; and
WHEREAS, Citizens of this Commonwealth trust that the medical
community will use the scientific data necessary to make
informed public health decisions when addressing our ability to
get back to business in this Commonwealth and throughout our
country; and
WHEREAS, The Federal Government should be partnering with
this Commonwealth to procure or provide the necessary materials,
including reagents, swabs and antibody and diagnostic testing,
to create quantifiable data that can responsibly inform
decisions regarding this Commonwealth's ability to safely reopen
businesses and get Pennsylvanians back to work; and
WHEREAS, In the absence of widespread testing for COVID-19,
the Commonwealth will be unable to adequately protect
Pennsylvanians from potential exposure to COVID-19 when opening
up sectors of the economy; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate urge the President of the United
States, White House staff and Federal public health officials to
20200SR0326PN1679 - 2 -
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
use the Federal Government's power to order the manufacturing of
essential testing supplies, procure supplies for widespread
testing and direct needed resources to states, including
Pennsylvania, to mitigate additional exposure to COVID-19 due to
widespread business reopenings.
20200SR0326PN1679 - 3 -
1
2
3
4
5