Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz | Joe Raedle/Getty Images Wasserman Schultz slams Florida governor over sluggish response to coronavirus In a private call, the congresswoman blasted Ron DeSantis and his administration for its actions.

TALLAHASSEE — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, on a call with fellow lawmakers and Florida state officials, accused Gov. Ron DeSantis of failing to acknowledge the coronavirus is spreading in the state even among people who haven’t traveled overseas.

In a recording of the briefing obtained by POLITICO, Wasserman Schultz tried without success to get state Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, a DeSantis appointee, to commit to informing the public about community spread in Florida.


“It needs to be said out loud,” she told Rivkees on Tuesday during a seven-minute phone exchange marked by long silences. “When is that going to be said?”

“Thank you,” Rivkees responded. “We very much appreciate this input and perspective.”

“Young people who are absolutely able to transmit the virus, they act differently when they are specifically made aware of the possibility or probability of their catching the virus or spreading it potentially,” Wasserman Schultz said. “When are we going to be saying this out loud?”

“Yes, we are, and many thanks for your comments,” Rivkees responded.

Rivkees told Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat, that the issue “absolutely” would be discussed at DeSantis’ next news conference, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

At the news briefing, DeSantis did in fact acknowledge community spread.

“You have a community spread in Broward and in very likely Dade,“ he told reporters.

A shortage of swabs, surgical-grade protection gear and testing chemicals is preventing the state from identifying it, DeSantis said.

Wasserman Schultz later tweeted that DeSantis had soft-pedaled coronavirus threats for too long.

In Washington, it’s conventional wisdom that community spread has hit Florida. But in Tallahassee, DeSantis, a Republican, isn’t convinced.

Anthony Fauci — director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a veteran epidemic researcher who has advised presidents going back to Ronald Reagan — flagged Florida during a March 10 briefing.

“Although we keep coming in and saying, appropriately, that as a nation, the risk is relatively low, there are parts of the country right now that are having community spread in which the risk there is clearly a bit more than that,” Fauci told reporters at the White House. “And you know the places: you know, Washington State, California, New York and Florida.”

DeSantis pushed back on Fauci’s assessment.

“Florida was identified as one of the four states and it was said there was ‘community spread,’” DeSantis told reporters the next day, after he’d talked to Fauci himself. “Because that three-person cluster in Broward could be linked to the cruise ship, that technically doesn’t qualify as community spread, which would be multiple people where we don’t know where they got it from. So we haven’t necessarily gotten to that point yet.”

Four days later, the Trump administration said Florida would be among states targeted for aid because of community spread.

“We've seen community spread in Massachusetts and also Florida,” Vice President Mike Pence told reporters at the White House early that afternoon.

Hours later, DeSantis took the podium in Tallahassee to say state epidemiologists hadn’t confirmed community spread.

“There are people out there, that because the symptoms are so mild for young people, of course you could never be sure who may transmit it,” DeSantis said. "We’re still moving along as if there are pockets in the community because I think that’s the appropriate thing to do.”

The Tuesday call with Florida’s congressional delegation, including GOP Sen. Rick Scott, was also attended by the Florida Department of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Moskowitz and state Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew.

Moskowitz said his office hasn’t yet modeled when a surge in cases could be expected, and stressed he had enough test kits.

“My biggest issue right now is the collection swabs, I have plenty of Covid-19 test kits,” he said on the call. “The collection kits, which is the swabs basically and the vials, that is the issue. There’s a national shortage.”

The state has requested 5,000 ventilators and 5,000 hospital beds from the federal government, and on its own has ordered hundreds of ventilators and 2,000 hospital beds from manufacturers.

He said the state has a mobile hospital near The Villages, a sprawling retirement community about 50 miles north of Orlando, and in Broward County, both regions with large at-risk senior populations. Two additional 250-person mobile hospitals are not yet in use.

The state has 300 nurses and physician assistants on call and ready to be deployed to hospitals or field hospitals, and 300 medics from the National Guard.

Arek Sarkissian contributed to this report.