Lack of Coronavirus Testing Disclosures Spark Push for Change
March 2nd, 2020 by Mike Vasilinda
On Thursday, the Governor and Surgeon General learned two people tested positive for the Corona virus.
Not until Saturday was the confirmation made public.
Also on Thursday, citing state law, they declined to even say how many people had been tested.
Now Democrats and Republican legislators are arguing the Department of Health got it wrong.
They want to change state law to make it clear the executive branch has the duty to report cases to the public
“Their position, going forward, is untenable. We have to make sure that the decision is about public health and based on medicine, and not on a faulty interpretation of statute,” said Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez.
“The Executive Branch has an obligation to inform the public, absence a determination about public health. That’s a matter of opinion, and I can tell you if you’re talking to the mothers who are taking kids to school where, my daughter goes to school, they all think it’s a public health necessity to know if there is an active case in Leon County,” said Sen. Tom Lee.
An effort to amend a sweeping Department of Health bill to require the disclosure failed Monday afternoon.
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