State officials: Florida has no testing kits for coronavirus

Shortage of coronavirus test kits

Several people in Florida are being tested for the coronavirus. State officials admit they do not have testing kits for the disease.

ORLANDO, Fla. - As the state of Florida releases data about the number of people tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus, Governor Ron DeSantis is making a plea to have more testing kits made available.

DeSantis said the state of Florida still has zero confirmed cases of the virus. Florida's Surgeon General says they are investigating four people in the state that came from restricted travel areas. Another 152 people in Florida are being monitored at home.

State officials admit they do not have testing kits for the disease. They say they are working on getting them in Tampa, Jacksonville and Miami. The governor says for now, any suspected cases have to be confirmed by out of state labs.

That turnaround is about 48 hours.

Vice President Mike Pence says they are going to do all they can to help Florida be prepared.

"We're going to make sure that states like Florida, and your local health officials, have the resources to be able to be prepared."

Doctors say the best thing to do is treat any symptoms as if you are dealing with the flu: stay at home and avoid other people.