Florida Sen. Rick Scott: Businesses Should Begin Crafting Plans for Reopening ‘Now’

Florida Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) released the first part of his comprehensive 60-day “Let’s Get Back to Work” plan, urging business owners to begin crafting plans for reopening “now.”

Scott’s plan details the key roles and duties of the federal government, state government, and private sector as Americans across the nation begin to eye the reopening of the American economy, which, as President Trump said, could vary from state to state.

Scott says business owners in the Sunshine State should begin planning their respective reopenings now and figure out what their “new normal” will be. Specifically, Scott believes businesses need to establish basic protocols and decide whether they will test all employees for the coronavirus before allowing them to return to work and determine whether they will mandate temperature checks on individuals entering their facilities.

“This will require the businesses themselves, in consultation with federal, state and local officials, to ensure the testing capacity is available,” Scott’s press release states, adding that businesses must ensure that they have access to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sanitizing products.

He also believes businesses should “evaluate their business practices to make sure appropriate social distancing is continued to encourage patrons to feel comfortable visiting their establishment.”

Additionally, Scott is calling on businesses to “disclose where their products are produced, and promote American-made products.”

“Businesses should create, and make public, a crisis plan to address future pandemics or the re-emergence of the Coronavirus,” Scott stresses.

Meanwhile, per Scott’s proposal, the federal government must support research and fund efforts to develop a vaccine, promote and fund efforts to continue expanding testing capacity, expand the national stockpile of PPE, provide guidance to healthcare providers on resuming elective procedures, acknowledge the threat of Communist China and “the role the World Health Organization (WHO) played in helping China cover up the spread of the Coronavirus,” and continue in providing guidance through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Those entities, according to his plan, should answer the following questions:

• Should everyone wear a mask? How often should individuals wash their hands? Should groups larger than 10 still be avoided?
• Should communities be categorized by risk levels, based on factors including number of cases, hospital capacity and testing ability, so areas with few or no cases can be re-opened sooner?
• Should businesses test all their employees before allowing them to return to work? Should businesses take temperatures daily before allowing employees to enter a building?
• Is it safe to use mass transportation, like airplanes, trains and cruise lines? Are providers of mass transportation taking the necessary precautions to protect employees and travelers? Should passengers be required to take their temperature before boarding?

Similarly, Scott is encouraging the state to build its own stockpile of PPE and urging it to continue in its efforts to work with federal and local partners to expand testing.

“As we bend the curve and stem the spread of the Coronavirus, we need to lay out the roles and responsibilities of government, the private sector and individuals that will help our country get back to a ‘new normal,’” Scott said in a statement.

He continued:

Every American will play a part in helping our state and our country recover from the economic devastation brought on by this pandemic. That starts with explaining what the economic recovery will look like and the role every level of government, the private sector and individual families will play in that process.

We can and we will come back better and stronger than before. America has faced many challenges in our 244-year history and we’ve always overcome them. It will not be easy – it will take strategic foresight, determination and diligence, and most importantly a commitment from everyone, but I know that after we heal the sick, we can also heal our broken economy and get back to work.

As for families, Scott encourages them to continue to consider safety guidelines but also stresses the importance of individuals remembering the virus’s origins and making different consumer choices.

“Every family needs to understand that Communist China is responsible for this pandemic. China is our adversary who has exploited the spread of the virus to gain a strategic advantage over the world,” his release states, noting that the pandemic has “exposed the need to vastly reduce consumer reliance on products made in Communist China.”

“Every family needs to understand that when they purchase products made in China, they are supporting the Chinese Communist Party and their efforts to control the world and destroy freedom,” it continues, encouraging American families to buy American and local “whenever possible.”