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'We've got a problem': Rep. Axne writes letter to governor, asking for more coronavirus testing of Iowa seniors

Axne is asking for a mobile TestIowa option and for ramped up testing at senior living facilities

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — TestIowa locations are inaccessible for many seniors and there has been a lack of tests provided directly to senior living facilities. That's according to a letter sent by Rep. Cindy Axne to Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Local 5, Axne pointed out that Iowa's elderly population has been hit the hardest by coronavirus: 87% of Iowa's deaths have been among those aged 61 years or older. 

"When I see that kind of data...we've got a problem," Axne said. "We've got to make sure that we're addressing it. So we have to push it out to them. These are people in many cases that can't leave their homes. They're vulnerable, and the most vulnerable according to the CDC. And it's our obligation and duty to get the tests to where they're living."

You can read Axne's letter below.

In Axne's letter to Reynolds, she asks for three things:

  • a mobile TestIowa option specifically for seniors and others living in congregate facilities
  • increase the number of tests provided to these living facilities for residents and staff
  • provide no less than weekly data reporting on all senior congregate living facilities, including reporting the number of tests for residents and staff, positive tests, and other relevant information

Local 5 asked Axne if TestIowa was the best testing source to use for this endeavor; the state coronavirus mass testing system has been criticized by some as unreliable and inaccessible. 

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"We're not even getting everybody tested who should be tested," said Axne. "So many people have told me that they go onto the TestIowa site and they don't qualify for a test. And the governor has said that anybody who wants a test can get a test...this was funded through money appropriated by Congress and I want to make sure that we are protecting Iowans."

Axne backed up her reasoning for sending the letter to Reynolds in the first place.

"I'm supposed to be a voice for people in this district," said Axne. "If we all want to do what's right and we work to make that happen. So number one it is my responsibility to bring opportunity to people in this district and certainly looking out for their health care and safety is one of them...and if I'm going to be responsible for appropriating funding to the state, I want to make sure that it's transparent in how it's spent and that it's helping the people that it's supposed to and that it's reaching the intended outcome that it's supposed to."

Axne ended her letter to Reynolds with a request for a reply by Friday. She did not receive a reply to her last letter regarding a lack of testing sites in Iowa.

RELATED: COVID-19 in Iowa by the numbers: Testing, cases and deaths

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