Today, Rep. Tom Reed thanked the Trump Administration, Governor Cuomo, and Abbot Labs for working together to deliver the testing resources communities across Western New York deserve. Governor Cuomo recently announced New York State will be sending 400,000 rapid testing kits to local health departments and care providers across the state.
The announcement comes after the federal government and Abbott Labs teamed up to supply the country with 150 million tests, 100 million of which were earmarked for states and territories. Now, those tests are reaching localities across the country.
Last month, Reed and a group of state elected officials sent a joint letter to Governor Cuomo outlining the importance of boosting the region’s access to testing and establishing a state-sponsored COVID-19 testing site for the community.
“This is a welcome development and we appreciate Governor Cuomo working with the Trump administration to ensure our counties have the testing to keep our economy running and schools open,” said Rep. Tom Reed. “We have been in close contact with the White House, Abbot Labs, and local stakeholders regarding the importance of rapid testing deployment to address COVID flare-ups and we are proud to see this initiative help the people of Western New York.”
Rep. Tom Reed continued, “As we have noted in the past, this level of rapid testing capacity is instrumental to providing local communities and schools with fair access to the resources they need to keep folks safe and counties virus-free.”
“With these rapid testing kits in place, the region will be better equipped to contain this most recent COVID spike and prevent COVID from resurging in the future,” said State Senator O’Mara. “We will continue to work with Congressman Reed and other federal, state, and local health partners to increase the availability of testing for anyone who needs it.”