Gov. Wolf speaks at national conference on mitigation strategies for Latino communities coping with COVID-19

Written by on July 29, 2020

Gov. Wolf speaks at national conference on mitigation strategies for Latino communities coping with COVID-19

By Alanna Elder, WITF

July 29, 2020

Governor Tom Wolf says his administration is learning better ways to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on Latinos in Pennsylvania.

WITF’s Alanna Elder reports, Wolf spoke on a panel at the UnidosUS online national conference.  

Telemundo anchor Jose Diaz Balart asked wolf and Grisham about their responses to the pandemic. Both governors criticized the federal governments’ response and discussed their efforts to contain the resurgence of cases in their states. 

Grisham says nursing home employees, many of whom are Black and Latina women, do not receive the recognition and the pay they deserve.

They don’t get recognized for their work, they’ve lost their lives, they brought COVID back to their families. Here’s what they have to deal with. They’re just like the frontline workers that we do recognize in hospitals. They have to say goodbye to the people they love and care about in the facilities that they’ve dedicated their careers to and lives to. 

Balart asked what the governors would have done differently in March, knowing what they know now.  Wolf said his administration could have required testing in long-term care facilities. 

As of the day the panelists taped the discussion, July 24th, all nursing home personnel and residents in Pennsylvania were supposed to have been tested, Wolf said. About 68 percent of the state’s deaths connect to nursing homes.

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