WHEREAS, COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory illness that first emerged in China in late and was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization, and

WHEREAS, on March 1, 2020, with just two persons in this state known to have tested presumptively positive for COVID-19, 14 Governor Ron DeSantis directed State Health Officer and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, M.D., to declare a public health emergency and authorized him to take any action necessary to protect the public health and to coordinate the emergency response across all state agencies and local governments, and

WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 20-52 declaring a state of emergency for the entire state due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and

WHEREAS, since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, 23 State Health Officer and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, M.D., 24 and Nursing Services Director Rita M. Smith, who has worked at the Department of Health since 1987, have worked tirelessly to educate the public and control the spread of the deadly virus, 27 coordinating the efforts of thousands of public health workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle, and Florida Senate - 2021 (NP) SR 2066 4-04675-21 20212066__ CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.

WHEREAS, as the true severity of COVID-19’s public health threat became known, testing became of paramount importance in stopping its spread and, to that end, Governor DeSantis and the leadership of the Division of Emergency Management called on Statlab Mobile to serve as Florida’s COVID-19 mobile testing lab, and

WHEREAS, through this partnership with Statlab Mobile, the Department of Health ensured that Floridians had access to same-37 day tests at parks, nursing facilities, the Capitol, and other locations throughout this state,

NOW, THEREFORE, 39