WASHINGTON, D.C.  – U.S. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-Bronx/Westchester) and Grace Meng (D-Queens) today led a request to President Biden asking him to help New York City battle the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

In a letter spearheaded by Bowman and Meng, and signed by other members of New York’s congressional delegation, the lawmakers asked the President to provide free rapid test kits to New York City, and issue additional guidance for schools to ensure that they are safe. The letter also asked for rapid test kits to be accompanied with translations to make sure that all communities in New York City can access and understand how to use the tests.

“Rapid COVID-19 tests provide New Yorkers not only with the ability to test in the comfort of their own home, but also help alleviate the hours-long lines we have seen at brick and mortar and mobile testing sites since late December,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without COVID-19 rapid test kits, New York City is not able to sustain its current efforts to limit the spread of the virus. We further emphasize the need to ensure at-home tests are made available free of charge to remove barriers that may otherwise prevent people from receiving the care they need and keeping our communities healthy and safe. Additionally, access to COVID-19 rapid test kits that are accompanied with translations and support to promote fidelity of implementation to help ensure New York City can continue to keep schools open, safely. For our school communities to be healthy and safe for everyone, we further encourage your administration to issue guidance that complements rapid test kits such that when a student tests positive for COVID-19, it is always communicated to the school and that the student quarantine at home. At this time, testing of NYC students is limited and we need to make every effort to prioritize and protect the health and well-being of everyone who is a part of our school communities.”

Those who signed the letter include New York Reps. Adriano Espaillat, Ritchie Torres, Thomas Suozzi, Carolyn Maloney, Nydia Velázquez, Jerrold Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gregory Meeks, Hakeem Jeffries and Yvette Clarke.

A copy of the letter can be viewed here and the text of the correspondence is below. It also cc’d Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky. 

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January 13, 2022

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

President 

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500

Dear President Biden,

Thank you for your leadership to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We applaud your recent announcements to take new steps to help keep Americans safe from COVID-19, including the federal government’s purchase of half a billion COVID-19 rapid test kits to help meet the demand for tests. In December, we sent you a letter respectfully encouraging your Administration to steer additional testing capacity to New York City to help protect people and communities from severe illness. We thank you for helping to set up additional testing sites across the City. We are writing again to respectfully ask that your Administration provide the necessary COVID-19 rapid test kits to help our city battle this latest surge in COVID-19 cases and provide guidance that ensures school communities are safe.

New York City represents more than half of New York State’s record-breaking new daily positive cases of COVID-19. With the rapid spread of the virus comes increased demand for COVID-19 testing. At-home COVID-19 testing kits have also become scarce at pharmacies, forcing New Yorkers to wait in long lines at testing sites.

The need for COVID-19 rapid test kits in New York City is palpable. Rapid COVID-19 tests provide New Yorkers not only with the ability to test in the comfort of their own home, but also help alleviate the hours-long lines we have seen at brick and mortar and mobile testing sites since late December. Without COVID-19 rapid test kits, New York City is not able to sustain its current efforts to limit the spread of the virus. We further emphasize the need to ensure at-home tests are made available free of charge to remove barriers that may otherwise prevent people from receiving the care they need and keeping our communities healthy and safe.

Additionally, access to COVID-19 rapid test kits that are accompanied with translations and support to promote fidelity of implementation to help ensure New York City can continue to keep schools open, safely. For our school communities to be healthy and safe for everyone, we further encourage your administration to issue guidance that complements rapid test kits such that when a student tests positive for COVID-19, it is always communicated to the school and that the student quarantine at home. At this time, testing of NYC students is limited and we need to make every effort to prioritize and protect the health and well-being of everyone who is a part of our school communities. We appreciate your Administration’s commitment to increase the number of COVID-19 rapid test kits available to schools by 10 million per month. Building on your successes in the fight against the virus, New York City must have access to a sufficient number of COVID-19 rapid tests to meet the demands of the Omicron surge. 

Thank you again for your leadership to address the COVID-19 pandemic. We look forward to continuing to work with you to defeat this virus.

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