Governor Ron DeSantis has officially declared a State of Emergency for Florida, on Monday for COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

Written by Kristen Schmutz – Belden Communications

Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference Monday where he confirmed declaring a State of Emergency in Florida, for COVID-19. The Governor stated the State of Emergency is to “create a unified command structure.”

The Governor’s declaration will allow him to execute a better response in the state with efforts to combat the virus. It will allow the Governor to allow out-of-state medical personnel to operate in Florida, purchase all necessary masks, materials, supplies, and equipment quickly, set up field hospitals, allow pharmacists to dispense up to 30-day’s worth of Emergency Prescriptions of Maintenance Medicines, and also deploy troops of the National Guard, if needed.

The testing capabilities of the state have been expanded outside the original three state-certified labs in Jacksonville, Tampa, and Miami. Private labs such as LabCorp and Quest can now test patients with referrals from a physician.

The Florida Department of Health is also looking into increasing testing capabilities by adding more CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments) labs.

Governor DeSantis also reported speaking to the head of the FDA, regarding universities being able to create test kits and is urging the Universities of the state that are interested to act quickly, for a swift approval.

These plans and declaration come after 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Florida and a declaration of a Public Health Emergency that was issued last week.