Florida to send 1 million at-home COVID-19 tests to nursing home, long-term care facilities

 Florida is sending out 1 million at-home COVID-19 tests to nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday.

He held a news conference at the Rehabilitation Center of the Palm Beaches, in part to show the need to put seniors first for high-value testing.

High-value testing is when people who have symptoms get tested in order to access treatment that would change their outcomes if they're positive, according to Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.

He said this is "the example that we're setting in Florida" for the rest of the country, before discussing how consistently testing without symptoms isn't "normal."

DeSantis said the federal government hasn't followed through after promising tests to people, and so the state took matters into its own hands.

The goal is that there will also be enough supply to send tests to community sites where there have also been vaccination centers, DeSantis said.

The tests will be sent to the facilities based on bed numbers starting tomorrow, getting to them around the weekend. They are just starter kits to be used for people who have symptoms, Florida Department of Emergency Management Kevin Guthrie said. Facilities will be able to request more if they are needed.

There are about 700 nursing homes and about 3,000 long-term care facilities in Florida, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller.

She noted strike teams have been working on vaccines, boosters, monoclonal antibodies and now tests for seniors since the beginning of the pandemic.

“There is an entire structure that is happening behind the scenes to make sure that these individuals get the resources that they need,” Marstiller said.

DeSantis said they are still waiting on about 30,000 monoclonal antibody treatments that they were getting from a source before it was stopped by the federal government. As soon as this is received, they have the ability to set up sites across Florida, including one in Palm Beach County, within 48 hours.

"We're gonna keep fighting," DeSantis said.

https://www.wpbf.com/article/florida-west-palm-beach-governor-desantis/38683171