TALLAHASSEE — After weeks of refusing to release the names of elder care facilities that have had residents and staff test positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Saturday that he has ordered health officials to release the names.
“I told them to do it as soon as possible. It’s not something we want to wait around on,’’ the governor said at a Saturday news conference at the Old Capitol building.
DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health has been under increasing pressure from families of residents and advocates such as AARP to release the names of the more than 100 nursing homes and assisted living facilities that have indicated they have positive COVID-19 cases on their campuses.
A list of more than 300 facilities, released Saturday night, included 25 in Pinellas, four in Hillsborough and two in Pasco. Pinellas had the fourth most confirmed cases at elder care facilities, following Miami-Dade, 54; Broward, 39; and Palm Beach, 36.
Those listed from Tampa Bay were:
Hillsborough
• Freedom Plaza
• Inspired Living At Tampa
• Promise Pointe At Tampa Oaks
• Rocky Creek Village
Pasco
• Grand Villa Of New Port Richey
• Royal Oaks Nursing Center
Pinellas
• Arc Of Tampa Bay: Al Hambra
• Arc Of Tampa Bay: Clearwater
• Arc Of Tampa Bay: Safety Harbor
• Bay Tree Center
• Belleair Health Care Center
• Consulate Health Care of Safety Harbor
• Consulate Health Care of St. Petersburg
• Heron House Of Largo
• Highland Pines Rehabilitation Center
• Inn At Freedom Square (The)
• Inn At Lake Seminole Square (The)
• Lakeside Oaks Care Center
• Manorcare Health Services Dunedin
• Masonic Home Of Florida
• Morton Plant Rehabilitation Center
• Palm Garden Of Clearwater
• Palm Garden Of Largo
• Pinellas Point Nursing And Rehab Center
• Regal Palms
• Seminole Pavilion Rehabilitation & Nursing Services
• South Heritage Health & Rehabilitation Center
• St. Mark Assisted Living Center
• St. Mark Village
• Stratford Court Of Palm Harbor
• Tierra Pines Center
In many ways, however, the list raises more questions than answers. Not provided are important details, such as how many cases per facility, whether the cases represent residents or staff, and whether they have had any deaths.
But the release of specific information has been opposed by the industry, who said it would violate patient privacy, and for weeks state health officials went along with their claim.
In announcing his decision, DeSantis added that he doesn’t think releasing the names of the elder care facilities will expose private patient data but instead serve as “double security because all these facilities are required to notify families and required to notify the other residents and staff.”
“I think they all have done that, all it takes is one not to do it,’’ he said.
Barred from visiting their relatives in the midst of a pandemic, families said they needed the information so they could reassure them that their loved ones are safe.
The state’s refusal to release the names of the facilities had drawn a public records challenge from a coalition of news organizations. Begun as a lawsuit drafted by the Miami Herald, the challenge had drawn support from several other news media, including the Tampa Bay Times, Gannett’s Florida publications, the Sun Sentinel, the Orlando Sentinel, the New York Times, Scripps’ five Florida TV stations, and the First Amendment Foundation.
“This is a good first step by the governor," said Mark Katches, executive editor of the Tampa Bay Times. "The public needs and deserves as much transparency as possible during this pandemic and we would urge the administration to make even more information available so that Floridians have a better understanding of the risks and the response at these facilities.”
DeSantis also said that on Monday he will announce a task force focused on reopening the state. The group will work throughout the week and present a plan to him at the end of next week.
DeSantis has been talking all week about creating a task force for reopening the economy, echoing President Donald J. Trump, who has floated a May 1 date for some parts of the country.
Other governors from both parties are also talking about reopening businesses and activities in their states. On Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a task force of medical and economic experts to reopen that state, with an early May target. Schools in Texas will remain closed for the rest of the school year.
DeSantis has talked about returning kids to school within weeks, and on Friday, he gave the green light for counties to reopen beaches.
Reopening parts of the country carries risks, however, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert. He told the Associated Press this week that the May 1 target was “a bit overly optimistic” for many parts of the country.
“I’ll guarantee you, once you start pulling back there will be infections. It’s how you deal with the infections that’s going to count,” Fauci said.
Reopening the economy would require a method to identify and quickly isolate infected people to prevent a widespread outbreak, Fauci said. Such a method does not yet exist, he said.
“We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet,” he said.
Any plan would likely require a dramatic increase in testing and faster test results, something that does not exist in Florida, which is still restricting tests primarily to people with symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever and coughing. People can have the virus without having any symptoms, however.
DeSantis said last month that he was exploring the idea of isolating people with COVID-19 symptoms in hotels or other sites, similar to what other countries have done. But he hasn’t mentioned it in detail since.
His own surgeon general, Scott Rivkees, recommended a different course of action this week. On Monday, Rivkees said Floridians should practice social distancing until a vaccine is discovered — even if a vaccine doesn’t arrive for a year.
“As long as we’re going to have COVID in the environment, and this is a tough virus, we’re going to have to practice these measures so that we are all protected,” he told reporters.
That message was apparently not well received by DeSantis’ office, whose spokeswoman immediately diverted reporters’ questions to another agency official, then went up to Rivkees and removed him from the room. Rivkees’ spokesman said Rivkees left for an appointment.
On Wednesday, DeSantis said he didn’t hear what Rivkees said, but he disputed the idea that Floridians should wait for a vaccine.
“There is no vaccine for SARS or MERS,” DeSantis said, referring to two earlier strains of coronavirus. “I don’t think it’s a 100 percent guarantee that there is going to be a vaccine.”
Conservative Fox News show host Laura Ingraham made a similar comment about SARS in an interview with Fauci on Thursday. Fauci disagreed with the comparison, saying that a SARS vaccine was in development before the virus disappeared.
“SARS disappeared, and we didn’t need to develop a vaccine,” he told her.
Fauci said some safety measures will need to stay in place until a vaccine exists, but it “doesn’t mean we can’t approach a significant degree of normality” in the meantime, he said.
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