Gov. Rick Scott announced Thursday there are five counties in Florida where a public health emergency has been declared.
Miami Dade, Lee, Hillsborough, Santa Rosa and Broward County are all under close watch because of cases of the Zika virus.
“I’m concerned but so far I haven’t had a problem. We don’t go out much and definitely I’m not going to South America,” said Ronice Freeman.
Scott said he’s concerned for pregnant women who have Zika, because the virus has been linked to birth defects in babies.
“We are requesting the CDC provide us with at least 1,000 antibody test kits so we can test pregnant and new mothers who’ve traveled to areas and had symptoms,” said Scott.
Scott said they have 475 of those kits right now, which check to see if a mother has ever had the virus.
He said they also have 448 kits to test for the active virus and is asking for more of those kits as well.
“I’m authorizing the Department of Health to purchase an additional 4,000 test kits,” said Scott.
Freeman thinks this is a good start to get ahead of the virus.
Cox Media Group
