DeSantis defends less coronavirus testing
Governor seeks ‘consequences’ for delays in results
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday explained the slowdown of coronavirus testing in Florida by saying fewer people are coming in to be checked out for COVID-19.
He also said labs that are late in reporting results should face “consequences,’’ but he didn’t elaborate on what those should be.
“We’re testing a lot,” DeSantis told reporters at the Capitol. “I think part of the reason why some of our sites aren’t doing as much is because people aren’t going as much as they used to. If you look at the Orange County Convention Center, at the beginning of July, we were having 2,000 people show up to get PCR tested there; now 700 are going.
“So I think the demand has ebbed, but we’re still doing a lot of tests,” he said.
Florida’s testing rate has fallen recently, from a high of 528,793 for
the week ending July 12, to 424,256 for the week ending on Aug. 2, a nearly 20% drop.
The shutdown of some state testing sites as Florida braced for Hurricane Isaias contributed to the decrease, and there are signs it could be rebounding, although not at the amounts seen last month, which included several days of more than 100,000 tests.
On Thursday, the state reported 66,489 new tests, with 6,331 positives; a positivity rate of 9.5%. The daily positivity rate has fluctuated between 8.4% and 11.9% the past two weeks. There were also 148 new deaths reported, bringing the state’s total to 9,047.
DeSantis also noted Florida is doing more per capita testing than Texas, which has done 4.1 million tests, less than Florida’s 4.12 million. Texas has 29 million people, about 7 million more than the Sunshine State, but Florida also has 557,137 confirmed cases for 50,317 more than Texas.
Since the onset of the pandemic in March, DeSantis has pointed the positivity rate as the main number to track how the state is faring in dealing with the coronavirus. But in the last month he’s emphasized a new metric, the number of COVID-19-like illnesses reported by hospitals.
Emergency room visits for COVID-like illnesses reached a peak of 16,000 the week of July 5, according to state data, but has declined to about 7,000 as of Aug. 2.
DeSantis also said he is pushing for penalties for private labs that don’t quickly report test results to the state, although he didn’t specify what those penalties would be.
“It’s their responsibility when those results are received to place it in the state’s system,” DeSantis said. “I told the Department of Health there should be consequences to that because of the fact that some of these results are being used to affect people’s lives.”
His comments came one day after the state reported that Niznik, a South-Florida-based lab, submitted a slew of results, including more than 3,000 positive COVID-19 cases, dating as far back as six weeks ago. The results were reported to the individuals, but not to the state until Wednesday.
DeSantis’ critics have bashed his approach, and are skeptical of his rosy outlook and emphasis on the declining trends, even as the death toll, a lagging indicator, continues to rise.
“My greatest fear is that while the case numbers may be on the decline as of today, the downward trend is not consistent, and only because Floridians have taken their safety into their own hands,” said Senate Democratic
Leader Audrey Gibson of Jacksonville. “There is a serious lack of leadership to prevent a new surge as children are forced back into the classroom and school personnel are forced to return to an untested work environment, and, in turn, bring home the virus to others.”
DeSantis’ remarks Thursday came after an event held to highlight the benefits of treating infected patients with convalescent plasma.
A transfusion of plasma from someone who’s had COVID-19 and has developed antibodies capable of fighting off the virus can boost a patient’s immune system and aid recovery.
The governor invited Steve and Theri Isaacs, a Florida couple who both had COVID-19, to speak about Steve’s plasma donation to Theri’s mother Gail Murray, 72, who was also infected.
Murray talked about how the plasma helped her recover. She said she was certain her life would end at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast, a northwest Florida hospital. The family’s story was featured in the Northwest Florida Daily News.
“In just a few days I went from thinking I was going to die to literally thinking, Why am I in here? I’m ready to go home now,” Murray said.