Today, Ohio Senate Democratic Leader Kenny Yuko released the following statement, calling for mass testing in all Ohio prisons and nursing homes:
"Ohio's essential workers deserve every possible safety measure. This is especially critical in facilities where residents are confined together and distancing is nearly impossible.
"We've seen how quickly this virus spreads through nursing homes and prisons, yet frontline workers enter these buildings every day to do their jobs without complaint. The least we can do is provide adequate testing.
"This is also a quality of life issue. Prisoners and long-term care residents rarely have the ability to leave these facilities, even though many are high-risk. We need to catch COVID-19 clusters early and work to contain them, before more lives are lost.
"Ignoring the virus won't make it go away, but it will place Ohioans at risk. Without mass testing, essential workers, prisoners, and nursing home residents alike have to assume they're infected. They have to worry about infecting their loved ones. Workers have to endure the constant stress of being a potential carrier, simply for doing their job.
"Politicians keep thanking frontline workers. It's time to do something for them. Let's show our gratitude with action."