During a press conference on Friday, where he railed against testing, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) asked if people ever got screened for an illness before the coronavirus pandemic.
“Now think about it,” DeSantis said. “Before COVID did anyone go out and seek testing to determine if they were sick? It’s usually you feel like you’re sick and you get tested to determine what you maybe have come down with.”Â
There are a number of preventive screenings measures that are common even in people who do not have any symptoms of a disease, including some cancers and STIs.
Still, a spokesperson for DeSantis told Insider that the governor stands by his comments.
“He was very clear, and there is no need to clarify his remarks further,” she said. “Never before in history have we seen mass testing of asymptomatic people for a respiratory virus.”
The comments come amid reports that DeSantis allowed up to one million Covid-19 rapid test kits to expire as Florida is experiencing a surge in Omicron cases and a shortage of tests.
