Gov. Ron DeSantis said it’s not a lack of hospital beds that could pose a problem as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Florida. It’s a shortage of medical personnel. 

DeSantis said he’s already deployed one thousand additional medical staffers – especially nurses – to hospitals throughout the state, including hard-hit South Florida.

“So we’ve already dedicated a hundred personnel that the state had had on contract basis to Jackson here in Miami-Dade. We’ve put a hundred on the way into the Tampa Bay area.”

DeSantis said he plans on mobilizing another two thousand healthcare workers who will also be assigned to hospitals and long-term care facilities. 

He said he’s also applied for help from the federal government in the form of disaster relief teams. 

“We also have a request pending with the federal government with HHS for some of their teams to be able to come down and assist the effort.”

DeSantis said Floridians should continue to seek medical care for emergencies like heart attacks and strokes.

According to the Agency for Health Care Administration, the state had more than 13,700 hospital beds available as of Monday night.

WATCH LIVE: Press conference regarding #COVID19 in Miamihttps://t.co/dZipyylSmQ

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) July 13, 2020

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