Orlando, FL – Vice President Mike Pence just delivered a few boxes of personal protective equipment to a nursing home in Orlando. But before he left, he made sure he maximized this photo opportunity, asking, “Can we make sure to get a good picture here?”
“After months of nursing home workers pleading for more PPE and testing in their facilities, Vice President Mike Pence came to Florida for a photo-op,” said Frances Swanson, spokeswoman for the Florida Democratic Party, “Pence is attempting to gloss over months of the Trump administration twiddling their thumbs instead of securing necessary supplies to keep our seniors safe, but Floridians aren’t buying it.”
While VP Pence and Gov. Ron DeSantis made a big show of their efforts to contain coronavirus at nursing homes, the numbers show us not enough is being done. Two weeks ago, the Miami Herald reported that, “Across the state, workers had similar, persistent complaints of lacking the supplies to stay safe.”
Likewise, testing has sorely been lacking in Florida’s nursing homes. Just one week ago, the Sun Sentinel reported that just 6% of Florida’s nursing home residents and staff have been tested, despite requests for the state to ramp up testing: “For two months, administrators at nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the state have been asking state officials to test their staff and residents to make sure that the deadly coronavirus wasn’t penetrating their facilities from staff who were showing no symptoms. But state health officials focused only on testing at homes that already had outbreaks of the virus.”
In an effort to uplift their voices, the Florida Democratic Party released videos on social media made by seniors in Florida responding to the Vice President Mike Pence’s visit.
Highlights from the videos:
Vivian: “You’re not fooling us, Mr. Pence”
Monica: “Please, you can do better. Please do better. It’s on you.”
MORE On Trump Admin’s PPE Failure
Politifact:Yes, US shipped donated personal protective equipment to China in February“On February 7, the WHO warned about the limited stock of PPE. That same day, the Trump administration announced it was sending 18 tons of masks, gowns and respirators to China.”
Washington Post:In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America
New York Times:How Kushner’s Volunteer Force Led a Fumbling Hunt for Medical Supplies
