Florida Department of Health Emails Regarding the Spread of Covid-19

Communication records from the Florida Department of Health in response to American Oversight’s request for emails sent by top officials containing key terms related to the community spread of coronavirus. Details on what’s in the documents are below.

Records received November 10, 2020

Documents received November 17, 2020

March 17, 2020: Eleni Kalisch, Royal Caribbean’s vice president of federal relations, asked Florida health officials to help Royal Caribbean arrange for cruise ship passengers to go to a predetermined clinical facility, referring to CDC guidelines requiring the cruise line to arrange this. When a Florida official asked Kalisch what facility Royal Caribbean had made arrangements with, Kalisch replied, “We had initially been told that CDC would screen the guests then advise which, if any, needed additional medical care and we would then transport them to the nearest hospital.” 

Other emails between Kalisch and Florida and federal health officials are here.