April 9, 2020/Press

NCDP Announces New Initiative to Hold Trump Administration, GOP Accountable For Failure to Prepare for the Coronavirus Crisis

RALEIGH – Today, the North Carolina Democratic Party is launching “Waiting on Washington,” a new initiative to hold the Trump administration and its Republican allies accountable for their failure in preparing for and addressing the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The initiative will provide important updates including emerging information on the administration’s failure to prepare for a pandemic as well as the mismanagement of federal stockpiles of personal protective equipment (PPE) for first responders and the ongoing need for more widespread testing for COVID-19.

“The incompetence of the Trump administration and Republicans in Washington in responding to this crisis cannot be overlooked,” said NCDP Executive Director Meredith Cuomo. “Voters in North Carolina and across the country deserve to know exactly how Republican leaders failed to respond to this pandemic. Through this new initiative, the NCDP will work to ensure that North Carolinians are able to hold the President, Senator Tillis and other Congressional Republicans accountable for their egregious negligence.”

As of April 7, North Carolina has more than 3,200 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, with 46 deaths from the virus in the state. The number of confirmed cases has doubled over the last 6 days. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the state has requested 500,000 N95 masks and the same number of gowns; to date, only 242,100 N95 masks and fewer than 90,000 gowns have been delivered by the federal government, leaving first responders and healthcare workers dangerously under-protected.

Governor Roy Cooper has taken a number of steps to address the shortage, including through Executive Order No. 122, to make certain equipment more available to schools and local governments. On April 7, Cooper announced his intention to sign an executive order to expand access to child care for doctors, nurses and healthcare workers on the front lines of the crisis and to make additional hospital bed space more readily available.