Could Florida, Home to Millions of Seniors, Be the Next Epicenter?

Apparent widescale ignorance of social distancing mandates in Florida has given rise to fears that the state will become the next epicenter for COVID-19, which could potentially jeopardize the lives of millions of senior residents — not least due to a shortage of coronavirus tests, reports USA Today . Health officials have completed 27,000 tests in the Sunshine State thus far, while New York conducts more than 18,000 tests daily. This means that the number of people infected in Florida is likely far more than the 2,355 coronavirus cases estimated by the Florida Department of Health as of Thursday. Despite ordering closures of bars and other restrictive measures to contain the epidemic, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted calls to issue a shelter-in-place order similar to those in New York and California, leaving health officials throughout the state worrying that the tests available so far will not meet demand. Adding to the concern is the difficulty of finding labs that can turn around tests quickly. Whereas doctors at the Gessler Clinic in Winter Haven used to receive test results from private labs Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp within two days, "now it's up to seven to 10 days," according to the clinic's Jose Martinez-Salas.