TALLAHASSEE – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke to reporters on Wednesday amid confusion about some of the new policies and restrictions his administration put into place.
The Florida Department of Health reports the number of positive coronavirus cases in Florida jumped to more than 300 overnight. Gov DeSantis says his focus is on expanding testing across the state.
“We’ve now distributed 2,500 test kits,” said DeSantis. “So each kit can do a number of tests, I think the total 2,500 kits is over 600,000 individual tests.”
DeSantis says hospitals in the state are lacking swabs for testing and personal protective equipment for medical staff. DeSantis says his staff put in an order for half-a-million swabs but have not received them yet.
The increase in testing is part of the governor’s plan to roll out drive-up testing sites in South Florida where most of the cases have been reported.
“We have about 50% of our cases are Miami-Dade and Broward Counties,” said DeSantis. “The rest are kind of spread here or there, some counties, I think the majorities of our counties still don’t have any or close don’t have any positive test yet.”
DeSantis also announced auditing focus has shifted to cities and counties that haven’t met the 50% auditing threshold to receive additional funds to help out local communities. The Department of Emergency Management will be distributing more than $170 million in Irma reimbursement to help out struggling communities.
“They’re looking at many cost associated with this response, they’re looking at declining tax revenue because of the decline in business activity,” said DeSantis.
DeSantis says he’s asked the state surgeon general to provide a 24/7 call center for residents to call if they have any questions, updates on positive cases and be point them to the right direction if they may contracted the virus.
As of Wednesday night there are a total of 328 cases in the state and eight people have died related to coronavirus. The Florida Department of Health reports there are eight cases in Manatee County and four in Sarasota County.