Florida governor bans nursing home visits

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday banned nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other facilities that cater to the elderly from allowing visitors for the next 30 days, as the state continues to work to contain the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus.

The governor said there would be exceptions for compassionate visitations. He said the Agency for Health Care Administration would reach out to all affected facilities to make sure they have clear direction. “This is a virus that does not threaten all segments of our society equally. The folks most at risk are elderly, frail, or have serious underlying medical conditions,” he said.

DeSantis also:

•Directed AHCA to extend all existing nursing home and assisted living facility licenses for 90 days, so they are not distracted from patient care.

•Directed the Department of Highway Safety to suspend drivers license renewal requirements for 30 days.

•Directed all state agencies to suspend state licensing and registration renewal requirements for existing professional licenses for 30 days.

•Directed the Department of Health to recruit and hire extra epidemiologists and public health staff from university and public health programs for the duration of the emergency.

As of Saturday afternoon, there were 70 positive cases of Covid-19 among Florida residents and four deaths.

“We’ve had it not just from Asia, but from all over the world. Now we’re starting to see it being brought in from other states, primarily New York,” DeSantis said. “I think the administration needs to look at domestic flights from certain areas where you have outbreaks.”

Florida remains at low risk overall, DeSantis said.

“People are really engaged in this and I have no doubt we’ll get through it but we want to get through it in a way where we can minimize the harm to our vulnerable population,” he said. “Even if you are somebody not at risk to really suffer anything serious with this virus — by you doing your part and helping with hygiene, social distancing and the like — you are doing your part to help slow the spread of this virus and probably save some people’s lives.”