Gov. Ron DeSantis announced earlier this week that testing kits to test hundreds of thousands of people for coronavirus would be in the state by this weekend, but at his press briefing Saturday afternoon, those tests still had not arrived.
News 6 has received a number of emails and phone calls from people in counties across Central Florida who have traveled internationally to impacted areas and are now having symptoms.
Those people tell us they are having problems finding a place to get tested.
Jared Moskowitz, the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, is trying to assure the public, the state’s supply of test kits to test for coronavirus is adequate.
“We don’t have a testing capacity issue as far as kits in the state of Florida,” Moskowitz said. “Based on the purchases that we have made on behalf of the governor’s direction, we can accommodate up to 625,000 people when all of the kits arrive.”
The key word is when.
Earlier this week, Desantis said those kits were expected to be in the state this weekend. Moskowitz said the state is trying to expedite the process.
“Let me be clear,” Muskowitz said. “We are not waiting for the situation on the ground to dictate response. We are doing things before that is necessary."
The state has waived weight restrictions on the highways for supplies that are being brought in, according to the governor.
And more testing is happening in the private sector at certified labs.
“So the testing is going to be more robust, but it’s definitely going to be more decentralized,” DeSantis said.