Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 29 signed into law a bill that protects businesses, governments, and health care providers in the state from COVID-19 lawsuits, given they can prove they sufficiently followed guidelines to prevent the transmission of the disease.
The bill was passed in the House on March 26 an 83–31 vote, one week after it was approved by the state Senate.
A plaintiff would also be required to present a signed affidavit from a doctor stating with reasonable certainty that injury or death caused by COVID-19 was a result of the defendant’s actions.
“We don’t want to be in a situation where people are scared of being sued just for doing normal things,” the governor told reporters. “I hope that this will provide some certainty for folks.”
“This is the most aggressive COVID liability bill in the United States of America,” Sprowls told reporters. “What this bill does is says, ‘If you’re doing the right thing, you’re protected.’”
Critics of the bill say people who have been caused injury by COVID-19, or those who have family members who died from the disease, will be denied access to the courts. Democrats argue that the language in the bill and the need to prove gross negligence will make it difficult to bring a case forward.
Health officials and lawmakers argued during the onset of the CCP virus pandemic that it wasn’t clear how the virus spread, and how its spread could be curbed. They noted the shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks and hand sanitizer.
Republican Rep. Will Robinson said at the start of the pandemic: “Who can forget the shortages of things like hand sanitizer, paper towels, and toilet paper? During the fog of this deadly COVID-19 war, our health care professionals and their employers stepped up and marched headfirst into this pandemic battle.”
