Medical experts say Florida' needs to increase COVID-19 testing, quickly

TAMPA, Fla. - More novel coronavirus testing kits should soon be on the way to Florida after federal lawmakers passed an $8-billion funding package to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Medical experts nationwide have said there is a dire need for more kits so public health officials can get a better handle on how many people are infected with the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Jay Wolfson, the associate vice president of USF Health and one of the area's preeminent medical experts, believes the federal government should have been more prepared.

"I think that there was a bit of denial as to what the volume was going to be and I hope that it wouldn't become a real epidemic," Wolfson said. "We responded too slowly. We saw that tidal wave coming and we said, 'maybe we won't hit us.'"

It did hit, infecting at least four people in Florida, including three in the Bay Area.

Wolfson said the government should have been testing high-risk people entering the country from areas where the disease was quickly spreading, like China, Italy, South Korea, and Iran.

But this week, there still weren't enough testing kits to sufficiently stock health departments across the country. That may begin to change, however, with the federal government giving pharmaceutical companies approval to develop the kits.

"This may take another week, a couple weeks before there is enough volume of produced things that can then be distributed to the highest-risk places," Wolfson told FOX 13. "Even after you've produced hundreds of thousands of test kits, you now have to distribute them to the highest-risk places, you have to train people how to use them and then you still have to have the labs that are qualified to process the test kit."

Wolfson said the health departments would receive the kits first, followed by hospitals and doctors' offices.

It's still unclear how many kits would be sent to Florida or when they would arrive. U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, (R-Sarasota County), said he would like to see the kits eventually available in pharmacies.

"My big push is on getting more tests locally. Maybe at some point, we can get them to our hospitals where people can go in their emergency facilities," Buchanan said. "I want to get it down and continue to push where it goes to the local drug stores, like the national chain stores, where they can manage it."

Wolfson said while medical professionals wait for the kits, people should continue to take care of themselves.

"This is really common sense, but take personal responsibility," he said. "Do not expect that the health department or the state of Florida or the federal government is going to protect your and your family. It's your responsibility to do this and that's through basic public health sanitation and good practices."