Moulton Asks Governor Baker to Designate Grocery Store Workers as Emergency Personnel So They Can Access Protective Equipment, Priority Testing 

Move would make grocery store workers eligible for priority testing, PPE if President Trump used the Defense Production Act to create enough of it

WASHINGTON — Last night, Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker formally requesting that the state designate grocery store workers as emergency personnel. The designation would protect workers in the food supply chain by making them eligible for personal protective equipment and priority testing if they suspect they have contracted COVID-19.

The letter comes after Moulton’s constituent, Vitalina Williams, a 59-year-old part-time cashier at Market Basket in Salem and a full-time employee at Walmart in Lynn died from COVID-19.

Moulton also asked the governor to use the recently-announced contact tracing program run by Partners in Health to identify other people who might be at risk in the community.

On March 16, Moulton called on the president to protect Americans by using his Defense Production Act powers to direct the private sector to create more personal protective equipment for health care workers, first responders and employees at essential companies. The shortage of personal protective equipment persists today.

 

The full text of the letter is below. A PDF is available here.