FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday the state's current "crunch" on COVID-19 testing will be the norm for the immediate and foreseeable future.
Speaking at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, DeSantis said the state is waiting on at-home tests the federal government has promised to send.
"There is a crunch on this and that's just gonna be the reality until we get the federal government to start sending more down," DeSantis said.
The governor suggested the testing problems are to blame, in part, on Floridians who don't necessarily need to get screened for COVID-19.
"People will go to the drug store, they'll buy all these tests. They'll go multiple times a week and go to the sites and test without symptoms. That is just gonna contribute to some of the crunch that you're seeing," DeSantis said.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, speaking alongside the governor, said he's developing a set of testing guidelines that are designed to prioritize "high value testing" and hopefully reduce lines at testing sites throughout the state.
Ladapo said the Florida Department of Health's new COVID-19 testing guidelines will likely come out in the next few days.
The governor also says Florida will get between 30-40,000 additional doses of monoclonal antibody treatments.
On Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 75,900 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida.
Scripps sister station WPTV contributed to this report.
