GOP Texas governor asks for federal assistance to help with COVID-19 testing, treatment

[left-of-center2012]

Source: The Hill

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced on Friday that the state has requested federal assistance to help with COVID-19 testing and treatment amid a surge in cases. Abbott, who has been a leading opponent of COVID-19 vaccine mandates, said in a statement that Texas is “urging the federal government to step up in this fight and provide the resources necessary to help protect Texans.”

The Texas Division of Emergency Management and the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) asked for federal resources to support testing centers, medical personnel and more monoclonal antibody treatments. “Testing sites, additional medical staff, and continued shipments of therapeutics from the federal government will help us continue to save lives and mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” he said. “Detecting COVID-19 and preventing COVID-related hospitalizations are critical to our fight against this virus."

The state is specifically requesting testing sites in Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, Harris, Hidalgo and Tarrant counties ... Additionally, Texas requested three teams of medical personnel to help in hospitals in urban areas that do not have staff contracted with the DSHS and asked the federal government to continue supplying the Regeneron and bamlanivimab monoclonal antibody treatments.

The requests comes after the Texas Health and Human Services Commission revealed last week that the state had run out of its supply of sotrovimab, which has proved to be effective in combating the omicron variant. The omicron strain is driving a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases. The state said infusion centers would not be able to provide the treatment until “federal authorities ship additional courses of sotrovimab to Texas in January.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/587934-gop-texas-governor-asks-for-federal-assistance-to-help-with-covid-19

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The state of Texas made headlines on Friday after a federal judge blocked mask and vaccine mandates in the state’s Head Start program.
Abbott … said,
“Texas just beat Biden again.”

Abbott issued an executive order in October barring vaccine mandates from being implemented in the state
after Biden announced a series of federal mandates for health care workers, large employers and federal contractors.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. We are broken...completely.

[TheBlackAdder]

17. A NY county executive overrode the governor's COVID-19 mandates, then demanded for the state to help

.

I forget which county it was, but this is recent.

The county executive bypassed masking mandates and then when COVID-19 exploded in his county demanded that the state open up and staff a county testing center. The new governor pretty much told the guy to fuck off and that his county's residents can drive to a neighboring county's testing facility.

.

[Eliot Rosewater]

33. Amazing...and the obvious thing you would do if you wanted to survive would be

to isolate these people who insist on trying to kill the human race so they cant, but there is no way to do that so they are going to cause the death and suffering of millions.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. "mitigate the spread" - Yeah, now the anti-vaxx governor wants to mitigate the spread to save lives

[NurseJackie]

32. It almost reminds me of the anti-vaxxers who were BEGGING for the vaccine before being intubated...

... and hooked up to a respirator. Too bad, so sad.

[Harker]

3. Has a ring similar to that of Rand Paul requesting disaster relief. n/t

[SoCalDavidS]

4. He Will Get Everything He Wants

Because Joe gives a shit.

And he’ll get no credit for it. The piece of shit Governor will be back to bitching about President Biden by next week.

[sakabatou]

6. And then he'll go pat himself on the back for a job well done.

[mollie8]

12. Wipe his face in it

Federal help should be contingent on abiding by Federal rules regarding the virus. He wants help, let him change his rules.

[Sherman A1]

25. Agreed

I would make him pay a political price for the assistance. It should not be that hard to accomplish.

[kacekwl]

38. Absolutely. Easy to do and must say so on live

TV and sign into Texas law immediately before any resources come his way.

[quakerboy]

20. you think he will wait that long

[LiberalLovinLug]

22. What is this "next week"?

He just keeps up the bitching constantly, even while handing out the federal aid. And the MAGATS that received the care will bitch even as they take it.

They will see no irony in that at all

[sakabatou]

5. I can't help but wonder if some Republicans in TX actually want help

or would just like people to die.

[SoCalDavidS]

8. They Want Help For THEMSELVES

They couldn’t care less about others though.

[cab67]

7. if human lives weren't at stake -

- I'd tell him to pound sand.

[pazzyanne]

14. + 1 nt

[Rebl2]

9. But thought

they hated federal government

[James48]

10. I don't want them to get federal help.

He broke it. Let himself fix it.

Sorry Governor Abbott, but the Feds don’t have extra somotrivab to give to you. We offered vaccines, and you turned that down.

Live with it. (Or not. You’re free to choose).

I’m actually looking forward to a nation with a million fewer red necks .

Abbot fans can suck on horse dewormer until they die.

[quakerboy]

21. There are a lot of democrats in texas

And this pandemic is hitting the poor, disabled, and POC hard. And I think we all are well aware that they are the ones that the republicans in charge of texas will make sure suffer any shortages the most.

Do we want to turn Texas? or just abandon it?

[Magoo48]

27. That's what the Orange one would do.

Compassion for regular folks, poor folks, everyday people overrides all else.

Give the help, monitor the help, if the help is being squandered, federalize it until after the crisis.

[LeftInTX]

39. I dunno....rednecks be damned, someone is using all the test kits!

None are available for us Democrats

[IronLionZion]

11. He's losing GOP voters in Texas

so it might be time to turn Texas blue

[James48]

41. I'm ok with that.

[Comfortably_Numb]

13. Where's that ass face dan patrick to spew some more "better to die"

bullshit? He’s such a *ucking tool.

[monkeyman1]

15. better watch it, jury just got me or being a bad boy !!!!!!!!!

[Comfortably_Numb]

24. Ruh-rho... dan's a repuke though so maybe I'm safe..

[Ford_Prefect]

16. Abbott wants to be able to blame someone else. He knows that testing without an

aggressive vaccination program is virtually worthless. He'd much rather see 1,000,000 dead Texans who he can blame on someone else than risk leading them to healthy outcomes by contradicting TLG and Q mythology.

(I know TLG has made weak-ass remarks supporting vaccination. He's not nearly as out loud about it as he is about the big lie so few take him seriously on that point, to say nothing about the True-Q believers.)

[LeftInTX]

18. Hubby and I both have Covid and are vaxxed and boosted...

Along with several of my in-laws

Hubby could not find a test anywhere. Even the drive through testing sites ran out. He finally paid $90 to a private company that does not take insurance. He needed the test because he's an educator. His test came back positive. My scheduled test isn't until January 6th. I will trust that I am positive though because I'm sick. My worst symptoms have been my eyes.

[Ford_Prefect]

26. You have my sympathies as someone who has also had COVID although I'm fully vaccinated and boosted

Abbott and others like him have gone out of their way to irresponsibly undercut mandates for vaccination which has led to wider spread of the mutations. In effect he has insisted that there is no authority to stop the grassfire of infection yet once the state is in flames he appears to be howling for federal help to contain the same fires. This is part of the GOP strategy to blame federal government and Democrats for failures in service when they were actually caused by GOP interference and negligence. That is not hype.

Our Governor in Montana has taken the same stand with much the same result. He arrogantly insists we do nothing to protect teachers, students, and health workers through mandating. He attacks public school administrators and local government leaders who do. His foolish and dangerous libertarianism is putting everyone in the state at risk along with our largest industry: tourism.

This is part of a larger strategy begun decades ago by GOP strategists of shaming Federal authority while at the same time interfering with policy and implementation based on so-called state's rights. It also shows up as rampant anti-intellectualism in the terms of "don't believe those know-nothings in DC who are trying to control you to suit their liberal agenda."

Abbott wants it both ways as long as he can later blame Democrats for any attendant failure due to his own delays. He will do so soon enough.

[LeftInTX]

37. I know

[DownriverDem]

29. Just makes you wonder

Dead Texans can't vote. It seems clear that repubs plan to cheat since they've killed off their voters.

[Grumpy Old Guy]

19. That takes a lot of Chutzpah!

[pfitz59]

23. He'll find a way to blame the Dems

guys like Abbott always do

[DownriverDem]

28. What a goober

repubs never want help until they do. They don't care how it looks either. We must not let them get back in control with the Midterms.

[The Jungle 1]

30. He should just go on vacation.

Like De shitis did. Also teddy boy. Teddy boy wants people to die of COVID and have the lights and heat to go off in the whole country.

[twodogsbarking]

31. Is it cold enough yet to turn off the electricity?

Soon.

[packman]

34. Typical Republican thinking (?)

Not a problem until it becomes a problem to us -Selfish, narrow-minded

[MineralMan]

36. Abbot, You Moron! When you can't handle it, you call on Biden.

He'll help, of course, but you will still be an asshole of cosmic proportions. Get over yourself, you creepo!

[samsingh]

40. shouldn't he ask the republican masters in Russia, China, and North Korea. And Saudi Arabia?

[louis-t]

42. Oh I see, so it's NEXT year that they will

be seceding? That's right, I forgot.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

43. "Before we help you, you must eliminate the TX abortion bounty law." nt