POOR PANDEMIC PLANNING

Florida Health Department Prepared for Pandemic While Not Warning Public: Report

The Florida Department of Health reportedly began planning for dire outcomes far earlier than it warned the public.

The Florida Department of Health was scurrying to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic as early as Valentine’s Day while declining to warn the public, the Miami Herald reports. Emails obtained by the newspaper show health department officials began discussing emergency declarations, assembling an emergency response team, and planning for the possibility the virus would overwhelm the state’s hospitals in January and early February. Gov. Ron DeSantis wouldn’t declare an emergency until March. Democratic state Sen. José Javier Rodríguez said of the administration’s response, “From the beginning, the DeSantis administration, including the DOH, appeared to approach this pandemic from the perspective of managing their image and managing the crisis from a public relations standpoint, and not from a public health standpoint.” The state has also been one of the first to reopen and resume some business as usual.