PORT EVERGLADES, FLA. (WSVN) - Local leaders are demanding more information from health professionals about the three coronavirus patients in Broward County, and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is not being shy about it.

Wasserman Schultz and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., led a roundtable discussion at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Monday morning.

The congresswoman said she did not get the answers she was seeking.

“Oh, I mean, disappointed is an understatement. I got stonewalled,” she said.

The Florida Department of Health released new information regarding the three presumptive positive patients stating two of the cases are related to Port Everglades.

One of the two patients has been identified as a worker at the port, but local leaders are asking additional questions.

The employee’s job included having contact with passengers, state officials confirmed.

Schultz at one point in the meeting pressed Broward County Heath Department Medical Director Dr. Paula Thaqi to release more information to the public.

Thaqi said she couldn’t give more information on the patients due to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

“When will you be able to give us a more definitive answer as to how this was contracted?” asked Wasserman Schultz. “I’m expecting a number, a time frame.”

“I understand that,” said Thaqi. “At this point, we have no evidence of community spread in Broward County.”

“She indicated that the three cases we have here in Broward had not traveled internationally. Well, then, logically the next conclusion is that it was due to community spread,” said Wasserman Schultz, “and she refused to acknowledge that it was community spread.”

The reason that the congresswoman is demanding answers is that two out of the three cases in Broward have come from Port Everglades.

“There are three presumptive cases of COVID-19. One of them is a 75-year-old male, another is a 65-year-old male, and another is a 67-year-old male,” said Thaqi.

Two of those patients worked in some fashion at Port Everglades and may have had some interaction with passengers, but health officials have not confirmed any of that information.

Wasserman Schultz confronted Thaqi about the matter during the roundtable.

“Why are you not answering my question? Has someone forbidden you from answering this question? Is there someone blocking you from giving us this information? Why come to the roundtable if you’re not going to be forthcoming?” said the congresswoman.

“I’m here at the roundtable to be able to provide the public with the information that they need to know to be able to protect themselves,” said Dr. Thaqi.

As for the third Broward patient, health officials said they have been having ongoing interviews with him.

Deutch, meanwhile, asked Thaqi about testing procedures.

“How many test kits do we have? How many tests can we perform in Broward County right now,” the congressman asked.

“The tests are performed at the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Public Health Laboratories, so [requests for] information about how many test kits are available needs to be directed to the Florida Department of Health,” said Thaqi. “What I will tell you is that we have been able and continue to be able to test everybody who needs to be tested.”

Another revelation from the roundtable is that Port Everglades only has cleaning supplies for the next four weeks.

“We’ve placed a very large order for cleaning supplies, and we’ve received a confirmation that those cleaning supplies would be available on May 6th,” said Peg Buchanan, the port’s assistant director.

“I’m sorry. The cases we have, have been from Port Everglades. That’s an unacceptable situation,” said Wasserman Schultz.

Dr. Glenn Morris from the University of Florida joined the roundtable via teleconference. He argued for widespread testing at centralized locations.

“My sense is that there’s probably a whole lot of cases out there,” he said. “The single biggest problem is that we don’t have data. We are not doing testing. When you compare the amount of testing that’s being done in this country, compared to every other country that’s had problems, it’s not happening, and because we aren’t doing the testing, we don’t know where the problems are.”

Wasserman Schultz further demanded she had the answers by the end of the day. She said when she gets the answers from Thaqi, she will post them on Twitter so the information is available to the public.

She stressed the information should be transparent so that the public can know exactly what is going on.

Wasserman Schultz also said the $8.3 billion emergency response package that Congress passed is not enough to cover present and future spread of the coronavirus.

Morris said, based on China’s data, COVID-19 is probably going to stick around for the next two months.

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