FORT MYERS, Fla – Following a Coronavirus news conference with Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday, democratic senators are fighting for more transparency. They want the Governor to release testing data specific to the virus. However, Governor DeSantis says that’s something current Florida law prohibits him from doing.
"I don't think I'm allowed to go into the numbers," said Governor DeSantis. “ I actually wanted to give all the numbers, but they pointed me to the regulation and the statute that said you can't list all the numbers," he added.
Our sister station, WFTS, in Tampa looked into the statue he's referring to, and found that many lawmakers feel the state is misinterpreting it. They say there are exemptions that clearly state information should be made public only when it's necessary to the public's health.
Democratic senators are now calling for a release of those testing stats. They want to know how many people have been tested in Florida and where the tests are happening.
Because they're in session, some are even threatening to file legislation by Monday to change the law if health officials don't open the records.
The governor also assured the public during that press conference that there are still no cases of Coronavirus in Florida.
