On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state government will send up to 1 million rapid tests to seniors in assisted living facilities and nursing homes as Florida responds to the continued pandemic.
DeSantis made the announcement at an event at the Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches.
“We are redoubling our commitment to putting seniors first by prioritizing the delivery of test kits to assisted living facilities and nursing homes,” said DeSantis. “We’ve secured up to one million tests to be used for those most vulnerable to coronavirus complications, allowing us to put seniors first for early treatments which save lives.”
The governor’s office continued to take aim at President Joe Biden’s handling of the pandemic.
“While the Biden administration has promised the American people 500 million tests and a website from which to order them, they have delivered no tests; there is no website; there is no timetable for delivery. Furthermore, the public health bureaucrats in Washington continue to encourage low-value testing of healthy, asymptomatic young people to essentially conduct surveillance testing not contingent on exposure, driving up demand for tests despite the Biden Administration’s failure to secure adequate supply. With today’s announcement, Governor DeSantis is extending Florida’s data-driven seniors first approach to encompass all aspects of the state’s multifaceted and dynamic response, including seniors first for vaccines; seniors first for tests; and seniors first for early treatments,” the governor’s office noted.
“The Department works with partners to ensure providers statewide are informed on COVID-19 treatment options, but also have access to supply outside of state sites – specifically for those who are at high-risk for severe illness,” said state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo “That’s the same mindset we now need to have about testing. Those that are at high-risk for COVID-19, such as seniors and immunocompromised individuals, should be prioritized for testing and treatment. We remain confident that the federal government will proceed with our request for 30,000 doses of lifesaving treatment.”
In the meantime, DeSantis continues to draw fire from the Democrats including state Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried who is running for her party’s nomination to challenge the governor in November.
“It’s come to my attention that Governor DeSantis’ Department of Health has a significant number of COVID-19 tests stockpiled that are set to expire imminently. Given the Governor’s lack of transparency throughout this pandemic, there’s no known public information about these tests or how soon they expire. With omicron infections exploding throughout Florida, I beg of him to release these tests immediately to local counties and cities, and to stand up state-sponsored testing sites. To let these tests expire while Floridians anxiously wait for hours in testing lines is negligent at best, and heartless at worst,” Fried said last week.
While DeSantis dismissed Fried’s words earlier in the week, he later said that the state had around 1 million tests in warehouses that will expire soon.
U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., who was elected governor as a Republican in 2006, also jabbed DeSantis’ handling of COVID this week.
“Just another day of Ron DeSantis doing absolutely nothing about surging COVID cases in Florida, leaving our most vulnerable citizens to fend for themselves,” Crist insisted.
