CLEARWATER, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday unveiled the rapid COVID-19 tests expected to be shipped out in millions to every state by the federal government.
The test, which was demonstrated live during Tuesday’s press conference at Baycare’s Morton Plant hospital in Clearwater, takes only 15 minutes to register a result, DeSantis said. And it doesn’t need a lab to do so.
The Trump administration plans to ship out 150 million of the rapid tests to all 50 states. DeSantis said Florida will prioritize getting its test kits to long term care facilities, nursing homes, retirement communities, and schools first.
“Some schools are isolating people that may have been in contact, so these are people who are not showing symptoms, and a lot of parents are frustrated, and I think rightfully so,” DeSantis said. “What this does is if you have that student who starts developing symptoms, they can be taken out, given this test, and we will know within 15 minutes if it’s COVID or not.”
With over 6.4 million tests expected to find their way to Florida, DeSantis said the state will have more than enough test kits to meet the demand.
“I don’t even know that we could even physically do that many tests, there’s certainly not demand for that many tests right now,” DeSantis said.
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