TALLAHASSEE – Feeling the crunch of the coronavirus, and with an eye toward public safety, leaders of Florida businesses on a state task force to reopen the state said Thursday they’re ready to get back to work.
So they’re urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to repeal some of the prohibitions put in place to slow the spread of the virus.
Hospitals face massive revenue drops and the increased costs of treating victims of the virus. Farmers pointed to massive destruction of crops after demand all but ceased in mid-March. Airlines are looking to bring more tourists back to Florida but with new screening rules in place to identify those with COVID–19. Cruise line companies want to get back on the water.
Leaders of all those industries spoke during task force meetings Thursday held via conference calls aimed at developing guidelines for how best to restart the state’s largely shuttered economy. DeSantis has previously stated he wants official recommendations by Friday.
One hospital leader, John Couris, CEO of Tampa General Hospital, said DeSantis should not extend his executive order banning elective procedures, which expires May 8. Hospitals are seeing steep declines in revenue because of the order, he said, and depending on the type of illness, patients who delay procedures, although they’re deemed “elective,” could end up with worse long-term health effects.
“We’ve been sitting idle as it relates to the elective work and we’ve been focusing on COVID-19 patients, which is the right thing to do,” Couris said. “But the unintended consequences of this – you have large businesses, mid-size businesses and small businesses suffering because of that.”
Couris said some hospital systems around the country have seen revenue declines of 30% to 50%. Yet he also acknowledged reopening the broader economy will mean a greater spread of cases, although he believes Florida’s health care system has the personal protective equipment and bed availability to handle it.
“Hospitals need to anticipate … a potential second wave or a potential bump in cases as we ease restrictions and start to methodically open up the economy,” Couris said.
And reopening is just what business leaders in other industries have in mind, albeit with new safeguards in place for workers and customers.
Executives of tourism-related companies, dependent on travel in close quarters and large gatherings of people, are eager to reopen – provided they can convince the public it’s safe.
“Our schedule today is about 10 percent of our normal schedule,” said Ted Christie, CEO of Miramar-based Spirit Airlines, which employed 5,500 people before the pandemic hit. “We need to get people moving again.”
To do that, strict screening procedures would need to be in place, along with “robust testing” at airports, taxicab companies, buses, trains and all other parts of the travel pipeline that tourists use to get to and from the Sunshine State’s attractions.
The cruise industry endured cases where COVID-19 spread rampantly on cruise ships that were then quarantined, and some passengers spent weeks trapped at sea. Even so, Rick Sasso, North America chairman of MSC Cruises, was upbeat about his industry’s future. Bookings are up for 2021 he said, even though “we voluntarily shut down our industry.”
For other sectors of the economy, the future is bleaker.
A.J. de Moya, vice president and general manager of The de Moya Group, a Miami-based construction firm, said even though DeSantis’ decision to expedite road construction projects has helped, 40 percent of the construction workforce is at risk.
“During the Great Recession the construction workforce was decimated, and many never returned to our industry,” said de Moya. “We can’t afford to lose them again.”
The key for all industries will be the safety protocols in place while gradually lifting restrictions.
Couris suggested that hospitals require patients to be tested for COVID-19 at least 48 hours before undergoing surgery and self-quarantine for two days before the procedure as well. Also, new questions should be added to the screening process at hospitals to better identify those infected.
A gradual reopening while maintaining safety procedures such as companies encouraging employees to work from home when possible, maintaining physical distance of 6 feet or more and reducing non-essential travel would be in line with Phase 1 of the three-phase approach to reopening the country laid out by the White House last week.
Formal recommendations from the task force could start to emerge Friday. His staff will study them and develop an action plan that DeSantis could start putting into place as soon as next week.
grohrer@orlandosentinel.com
