Pennsylvania asks FEMA for help with COVID surge
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania is asking the federal government to send health care workers to bolster hospitals and nursing homes that are increasingly under strain from persistent staffing shortages and the latest COVID-19 surge. The Wolf administration asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday to send strike teams to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and ambulance companies in the hardest-hit areas of the state. Pennsylvania is also requesting that the federal government send 1 million rapid at-home coronavirus tests and increase the state’s allocation of monoclonal antibody treatments. Statewide, hospitalizations are up by two-thirds since last month.