Vice President Mike Pence was in Tampa Thursday for a meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, where the pair discussed the state鈥檚 response to the coronavirus pandemic as the number of cases continued to skyrocket.
The pair met as the state reported more than 10,000 new positive cases of coronavirus in a 24-hour period, marking the ninth straight day where Florida reported more than 5,000 new cases.
"We really are here to assure the people of Florida, as we see the rising number of cases, not only in this state but across the Sunbelt, that we are going to do whatever it takes to make sure that our extraordinary healthcare workers have resources and support and supplies,鈥� Pence said.
He said he will be taking DeSantis' request for medical personnel to President Donald Trump, and announced that 34,000 vials of Remdesivir, a drug being used to treat COVID-19, arrived in Florida on Wednesday.
Dr. Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, also attended the meeting at
the University of South Florida Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS).
She encouraged anyone under the age of 40 who has attended a large gathering to be tested. That demographic is known for being asymptomatic if they have COVID-19 and unknowingly spread it.
She said that if there is an increase in testing in these groups, the Food and Drug Administration could implement 鈥減ool testing,鈥� which would allow large groups of people, like families or students sharing dorms, to all be tested at the same time.
鈥淲ith the ability to go back and do individual diagnostic tests for the pools that are positive, we think that this is a critical breakthrough as the FDA continues to bring new testing online,鈥� Birx said. 鈥淭his will allow us to go from 5,000 tests today to 50,000 tests today.鈥�
Pence complimented the state's response to fighting the pandemic, specifically at long-term care facilities, and nearly 1,900 have died. He pointed to the state opening 12 COVID-19 only nursing facilities, with 750 beds for seniors stable enough to leave the hospital but still need to be in quarantine.
This effort, DeSantis said, will increase the number of beds available in hospitals.
Pence also praised DeSantis for his 鈥渆fforts to open up Florida again,鈥� and his 鈥減rudent steps鈥� to slow the spread of COVID-19.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have to choose between good health and a strong economy,鈥� he said.
However, Thursday's record-breaking number of cases, 10, 109, made Florida the 6 th highest state in number of cases. And, according to Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, the Tampa Bay area has the 3 rd fastest growth in cases in the past week.
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DeSantis avoided questions about the spike in recent cases being connected to the state's decision to reopen some businesses and ease restrictions.
Instead, he blamed 'front page' news coverage of protests against police brutality and racial injustice.
DeSantis said he thought 鈥減eople weren鈥檛 focused on (coronavirus) anymore.鈥�
鈥淚 think what happened is the protests, that took corona off the front pages, and really, for two weeks, you didn't see very much about it,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think that sent a signal to some people that hey, maybe we're done with this.鈥�
鈥淎nd I've always been very clear, you know, just by moving into a new phase, the virus doesn't just disappear.鈥�
Pence and DeSantis focused on the need for young people to take responsibility for not spreading the virus. They cited the 鈥渟trong, independent streak of young people鈥� and the 鈥渄esire of young people to socialize,鈥� for the recent spikes.
Over the past month, the average age for people testing positive for COVID-19 in Florida has dropped from over 65 to 25-34.
鈥淲e all know that for younger Americans, especially those without underlying health challenges, the risk of serious outcome with the coronavirus is fairly small,鈥� Pence said. 鈥淏ut no young person would ever want to unintentionally infect a mom and dad or grandmother or grandfather or an elderly friend.鈥�
When not speaking, both Pence and DeSantis wore masks throughout the conference, and they urged people to follow local ordinances about social distancing and wearing masks.
鈥淲ith this being in the news more now, I do think people are going to be more conscious of it, when they're going out and interacting during Fourth of July in the way they may not have been for Memorial Day,鈥� DeSantis said. 鈥淪o, if everyone is enjoying life, but doing it responsibly, we're going to be fine, we'll get that positivity rate down.鈥�
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