CEO of CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) Ann Lee and organization co-founder, actor and activist Sean Penn spoke with CNN on Saturday about their group’s participation in the massive effort to get Covid-19 testing to the people of Los Angeles.

“I think that now is the time to really quadruple down on all of the common sense efforts of masking, social distancing,” said Penn. “We know that there is this, finally, this light at the end of the tunnel with these vaccines starting to come online.”

But, he pointed out, there are still a “lot of unknowns.”

Lee said that one thing that scares her is how similar it is trying to get testing to all corners of this nation as it was attempting to provide aid and disaster relief in places like Haiti and Kosovo.

“There’s a lack of coordination, there’s a lack of leadership, and what’s scary is that, you know, the private sector and the NGO has stepped up in such a major way in this area,” said Lee.

“One of the silver linings in this Covid experience is the nature of public-private partnerships, and the exposure, really, of the need for that,” said Penn. “So we can come as citizens and work with governance to be able to do the kind of expanded care that’s going to be needed.”

Penn also said everyone recognizes “the importance on so many levels of getting kids back to school,” and said that they should look to the NBA’s bubbles when planning the return to school and protections for teachers, staff, and students.

The two emphasized that if the CARES Act is not extended the contact tracing and testing provided by organizations like CORE will come to an abrupt end at the beginning of December.

CORE is a humanitarian and relief organization founded by Penn and Lee that has participated in providing medical and other forms of assistance for disasters around the world. The organization brings together a “network of doctors, emergency workers, and government officials” to provide immediate response and “boots on the ground.” CORE is active in both Covid relief and in testing and contact tracing.

Watch the clip above, via CNN.

The post CORE's Sean Penn, Ann Lee Talk Testing, Lack of Gov't Leadership on COVID: What's Scary is Private Sector Has Stepped Up in Major Way first appeared on Mediaite.

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