U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is proposing temporarily shutting down all U.S. borders to tourism in an op-ed he penned for Fox News.
Scott, R-Florida, is also calling for health screenings and 14-day quarantines for all Americans returning from overseas.
Scott has been vocal among Republicans in calling on President Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis to release more information about the response to the coronavirus outbreak. Florida has seen 23 cases and two deaths as of Wednesday afternoon, with more than 1,000 cases and 32 death being reported nationwide.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Congress, “We have got to assume it is going to get worse and worse and worse,” and places ranging from Seattle to San Francisco to Ohio have called for canceling large gatherings.
In his op-ed, Scott also calls for immediately opening mobile testing sites nationwide to isolate the at-risk population; closing all schools for 14 days in areas where the virus is being transmitted from person-to-person and not via foreign travel; limiting visits to all hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and senior centers and screening employees; and shutting down government buildings to visitors.
Scott also said the Centers for Disease Control should release locations an infected person visited before returning home, including airports, flights and trains.
States must immediately start implementing containment zones, he said.
“The virus is no longer related only to travel, and we are seeing it spread in communities in New York, Washington and my home state of Florida,” Scott wrote. “Discussion in Washington has turned to an economic stimulus package. Let’s be very clear about this: the markets are not reacting to fundamental weaknesses in our economy. The markets are reacting to fear, uncertainty and the disruption of global supply chains. The best economic stimulus package is to stop the spread of coronavirus.
“I believe it’s time to take bold action,” he wrote. “We need to get ahead of the curve.”
Scott had previously “expressed my concern over the lack of information available to the public, especially regarding the virus-related deaths in Florida,” in a statement on Tuesday. “I urged the President to provide the public with information about what worked and what hasn’t worked in Italy and South Korea’s response to the virus so we can utilize the best practices here.”
slemongello@orlandosentinel.com
