Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ solution to massive lines for COVID-19 testing in his state is typical. The governor held a press conference on Monday and blamed the administration of Joe Biden and Floridians for having the audacity to want to know whether they have COVID-19.
DeSantis addressed the Omicron-fueled surge in cases and testing. Nearly 300,000 new cases were reported in the state in the last week of the year. Rather than seeing an obvious connection between this massive spike and people wanting to know if they were infected in an entirely open-for-business state, DeSantis and his surgeon general chastised the idea of getting tested to know if you might pass the virus on to family and coworkers.
DeSantis said Surgeon General Victor Ladapo is working up a state guidance for testing that encourages people to get tested only if they meet certain criteria. DeSantis called this method “test for a reason.”
“We need to unwind the testing and living one’s life around testing,” Ladapo said. “My goal is to put out testing that doesn’t restrict access to testing, but reduce the use of low-value testing and prioritizes high-value testing. High-value testing is likely to change the outcome.”
DeSantis also announced plans to reopen monoclonal antibody treatment facilities for people suffering from COVID-19. However, he remained silent on the issue of state-run testing facilities for the virus, as local testing sites have been crushed with demand. A video captured by a Reddit user showed a typical scene outside of the Barnett Park testing site earlier this week.
Though the state has the ability to ease pressure by opening up testing sites, DeSantis blamed the delay on President Joe Biden. He noted that the Biden administration promised to deliver free at-home tests. The fact that these tests were always expected to go out starting in the first few weeks of January was not DeSantis’ concern.
“There is obviously a crunch on the availability of tests,” DeSantis said. “We were promised a lot of home tests. The federal government is in control of that, I don’t know when that is coming.”
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This article appears in Dec 29, 2021 – Jan 4, 2022.