TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis again emphasized that the state will by no means use any kind of "government coercion" to close any house of worship, but said people need to continue to follow social distancing guidelines through Easter and Passover weekend.
DeSantis delivered that message in a press conference Thursday afternoon to provide updates on the state's efforts to combat COVID-19 and expand testing.
“We have advocated that folks worship in a way that’s consistent with social distancing guidelines, and I know that most establishments are doing that and there are multiple ways to do that," DeSantis said. "We have said repeatedly that we want people to be spiritually together, but social distance. So as you keep God close during these religious important days, make sure to keep COVID-19 away.”
As for testing, DeSantis said they are well over 150,000 tests for the state, which he said equals about one test for every 140 Floridians.
The three federal drive-thru sites in Florida, which are in Jacksonville, Orange County and at Hard Rock Stadium, will continue to run despite the federal staff leaving. Under the federal guidelines they were limited to 250 swabs a day at those sites, due to their contract with Lab Corp and Quest, so now he said they can offer more tests at those sites using state resources.
DeSantis said they are sending out thousands of new swabs to each of those sites. They are also sending out the National Guard, which Desantis said Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry has requested more of for the testing sites in Duval County.
In Broward County, DeSantis said they were testing 700 to 800 people a day and he believed that was a good model to copy at other sites now that they can test more people. He also wants to expand the testing criteria for each site. He referenced Jacksonville as an example of an area that had already expanded the testing criteria.
He said they are hoping to test people who may have had "repeated close contact" with individuals who have COVID-19 and individuals who have COVID-19 but are asymptomatic.
The state is working on "antibody tests," which can determine if someone had COVID-19 but was asymptomatic so they may not have known, DeSantis said. They want to see if an "asymptomatic carrier" developed antibodies.
The state is also working to distribute 15 "rapid test machines" from Avid Labs across the state. The governor said many hospital systems already have them across the state but they need to supplement the hospitals in need.
DeSantis said "since day one" they have been contingency planning for hospital bed space in Florida. They've now decided to move forward with the Miami Beach Convention Center in conjunction with help from the Army Corps of Engineers, where they will be able to offer 400 regular hospital beds and 50 ICU beds. He said the Pan American Hospital in South Florida will have 200 beds, plus 30 beds with St. Nicholas Hospital system, as well as a field hospital to offer additional beds if needed.
DeSantis said currently 43% of hospital beds are available and vacant across Florida.
“The bottom line is we do have the ability to move beds, to move a field hospital and to do that relatively quickly,” DeSantis said. "Those, whether it’s the convention center, whether it’s the Pan American Hospital, those are all staffed with National Guard, with nurses and doctors who are not necessarily a part of the Florida hospital system, so it is a way to supplement what is already being done.”
The governor said he also wanted to focus Thursday's press conference on the education around the state and commend parents and teachers for their help with distance learning.
DeSantis said Vice President Mike Pence recognized Florida as a leader in distance learning, and while he appreciated that, he said he is still constantly evaluating what else they can do with the Department of Education to improve learning from home.
He asked the Commission of Education, Richard Corcoran, to bring some people in from a variety of contexts to join in on the press conference meeting through video chat. Parents, teachers and supervisors were able to talk about the challenges they are facing with distance learning and what they have been able to accomplish.
DeSantis said Florida Virtual Schools have made 100 courses available for free during this time. They are also offering free connection for all schools districts to the Florida Virtual Schools Management System, as well as increased capacity of resources and services as a "safety net" that can serve more than 2.7 million students in Florida if necessary.
The Florida Department of Education has created a list of hundreds of free educational services and a best practices guide for social distance learning, which they've shared with millions of parents and teachers across the state. The department also purchased more than 32,000 laptops for 34 rural school districts, and they are working to distribute those now.
To ease the burden on teachers they've canceled state assessments in 2020 and the department has delayed teacher certification test requirements. They can take those at no cost now.
Corcoran said 22,000 teachers are already taking advantage of that fee waiver.
Since March 1st, the department has been buying additional servers and working to expand virtual education platforms, Corcoran said.
Corcoran said ultimately their "default" when handling this situation is "compassion and grace."
He said they are also working to find and work with kids who have gone "off the grid" during this time. In some school districts there are 15% or more students who are considered "off the grid" but they are actively working on getting that number down to zero so all kids can be actively engaged and "back on track."
DeSantis also announced that on Thursday the Florida Department of Emergency Management sent out one of the biggest shipments of supplies in the department’s history: 2 million surgical masks, 300,000 face shields, more than 50,000 containers of hand sanitizer, 500,000 shoe covers, more than 100,000 gowns and 350,000 gloves.
With that additional allotment, DeSantis said the cumulative total for the department equals: 5.2 millions masks, more than 500,000 face shields, 4.75 million gloves and 275,000 gowns. The supplies are being sent out to first responders and health care workers on the front lines.