. >> reporter: weiden's letter coming as the first coronavirus unfolded. >> it should have been a wakeup call. >> reporter: the virus began its silent assault on the life care facility in kirkland, washington in january. by february, the 911 calls poured in. one after another. >> he is deteriorating in his health condition. >> reporter: and another. >> 911, emergency. >> medical, please. >> is there a life care center? >> correct. >> what are her symptoms today? >> sweat beining, having a hard breathing. >> reporter: at the end of february the center came to realize covid-19 had infiltrated their facility. life care saying they grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, people who were important members of our professional family. residents continue to be monitored very closely. by early march, the federal government was compelled to issue guidance, to screen res visitors. >> seniors and americans with underlying conditions are technically vulnerable. >> reporter: at the time, 159 cases of covid-19 were reported around the country, yet, this was still eight days before a national

that's the subject of a letter that senator klobuchar aroundwide weiden and i have been leading and an effort to appropriate more money to make sure that the average american citizen also isn't forced to go and vote in person while we still have shelter in place orders. as you saw in the state of wisconsin, we don't yet have a clear plan for how to deal with voting in the age of this pandemic. so senator klobuchar and we'dp and i have been -- weiden and i have been advance anything bill and funding to allow states to begin planning responsibly now for how they will carry out their delayed primaries and the november election. we shouldn't put the average american, and in particular seniors and those immunocompromised in a position of having to choose between exercising their sacred right to vote and keeping themselves and their families safe from this virus. so i think this is an important step forward. it would ask us to give some flexibility to states in terms of match requirements and some dramatic additional resources, 3.6 billion. we've heard both republican and democratic secretar