Florida Senate - 2021                            (NP)    SR 2066
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-04675-21                                            20212066__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution expressing the appreciation of the
    3         Florida Senate and all Floridians for the dedicated
    4         service of State Health Officer and Surgeon General
    5         Scott Rivkees, M.D., Department of Health Nursing
    6         Services Director Rita M. Smith, and Florida’s testing
    7         partner, Statlab Mobile, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    8  
    9         WHEREAS, COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory illness
   10  that first emerged in China in late 2019 and was declared a
   11  Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World
   12  Health Organization, and
   13         WHEREAS, on March 1, 2020, with just two persons in this
   14  state known to have tested presumptively positive for COVID-19,
   15  Governor Ron DeSantis directed State Health Officer and Surgeon
   16  General Scott Rivkees, M.D., to declare a public health
   17  emergency and authorized him to take any action necessary to
   18  protect the public health and to coordinate the emergency
   19  response across all state agencies and local governments, and
   20         WHEREAS, on March 9, 2020, Governor DeSantis issued
   21  Executive Order 20-52 declaring a state of emergency for the
   22  entire state due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and
   23         WHEREAS, since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic,
   24  State Health Officer and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, M.D.,
   25  and Nursing Services Director Rita M. Smith, who has worked at
   26  the Department of Health since 1987, have worked tirelessly to
   27  educate the public and control the spread of the deadly virus,
   28  coordinating the efforts of thousands of public health workers
   29  on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle, and
   30         WHEREAS, as the true severity of COVID-19’s public health
   31  threat became known, testing became of paramount importance in
   32  stopping its spread and, to that end, Governor DeSantis and the
   33  leadership of the Division of Emergency Management called on
   34  Statlab Mobile to serve as Florida’s COVID-19 mobile testing
   35  lab, and
   36         WHEREAS, through this partnership with Statlab Mobile, the
   37  Department of Health ensured that Floridians had access to same
   38  day tests at parks, nursing facilities, the Capitol, and other
   39  locations throughout this state, NOW, THEREFORE,
   40  
   41  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   42  
   43         That the Florida Senate expresses its appreciation, and the
   44  appreciation of all Floridians, for the dedicated service of
   45  State Health Officer and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees, M.D.,
   46  Department of Health Nursing Services Director Rita M. Smith,
   47  and Florida’s testing partner, Statlab Mobile, during the COVID
   48  19 pandemic.