Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked if people ever sought testing to see if they were sick before the coronavirus pandemic: 'Think about it'

At a press conference on Friday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis asked if people were screened for illness prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which he railed against during his speech.

"Now think about it," he said. Did anyone go out and get tested to see if they were sick before COVID? You get tested to determine what the problem is, if you feel sick, and if you have come down with it.
Many people pointed out that preventive screenings for diseases such as sexually transmitted infections and cancer are common in people who do not have any symptoms of the disease.

Others pointed to a December 2021 message from the wife of the congressman, where she advocated for preventative cancer testing and talked about her own breast cancer diagnosis.

Ted Lieu wrote in response to the Florida governor. Did anyone go out and get the vaccine? Did anyone go for mammograms, colonoscopies, or Pap smears before cancer? Did anyone attempt to boil water before the fire? Behavior change is caused by new discoveries.
January 7, 2022.

A representative for DeSantis told Inisder that he stood by his comments.

She said there was no need to clarify his remarks. Mass testing of people for a respiratory virus has never been done before.

The comparison of mass daily/weekly COVID testing and annual cancer screening is absurd, and it is sickening that the media and Democrats attempt to use the First Lady's cancer diagnosis to score cheap political points. She said to try to do better.

Public-health experts say that regular COVID-19 testing helps stem the spread of the disease by allowing people with no symptoms to be isolated from people who have more serious infections.

Businesses with more than 100 employees can do weekly testing for people who are not up to date on their vaccinations.
"So, this is a new thing where they've been saying go out and test all the time," Gov. "You're free to do it, but what the DOH guidance from Florida is saying is that's unlikely to lead very much clinical value for you, and it also creates a lot of second-order follow up problems."

The Republican who has been at the forefront of criticism around efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19 called widespread testing a "lockdown by stealth" because a person would need to isolated even if they weren't showing symptoms of illness.
He said that blanket testing of healthy people leads to some kids not being in school, it leads to people not being able to go to work, and it may not even be justified. We think it's a mistake.
The administration has been criticized after it admitted that it allowed up to one million COVID-19 tests to expire in a warehouse. The director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management said there wasn't enough demand for them.