Florida Governor Confronted By Hecklers In Orlando

ORLANDO, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was forced to briefly pause his coronavirus press conference Monday as multiple hecklers shouted over him and banged objects.

"You're lying to the public," and "shame on you," hecklers shouted at OneBlood headquarters in Orlando where the governor was making an appeal for coronavirus survivors to donate their blood for convalescent plasma.

A similar incident occurred last week at Miami's Jackson Health System, but the heckler was quickly ushered outside the room in that instance. The hecklers lingered outside the Orlando press conference and continued banging objects and shouting.

"We will not be defunding the police so don't worry about that," DeSantis quipped at one point. "We are going to be supporting our men and women in law enforcement."

OneBlood President and Chief Executive Officer George “Bud” Scholl said his 2,500-person organization has experienced more than a 500 percent increase in requests from hospitals for convalescent plasma as health care workers respond to thousands of new cases every day in the state.

Florida health officials reported 360,394 cases of the virus Monday while the state's death toll surpassed the 5,000 mark.

"We're urging people who recovered from the coronavirus to step forward and donate their plasma," Scholl said. "The surge in the number of people being diagnosed with coronavirus has coupled with the fact that hospitals are providing the convalescent plasma earlier in their treatment, which is driving demand to new heights."

Scholl called the demand unprecedented and said his organization is working 24 hours a day to fulfill requests. He said everyone must register at OneBlood.org before donating their blood.

"It's a revolving door. As quickly as the plasma comes in, it goes back out," Scholl said.

Noting the hecklers, Scholl said: "I hope they never need convalescent plasma, I can tell you."

Plasma can be given every 28 days from a person who has recovered from the coronavirus but still has antibodies for it. OneBlood was one of the first blood centers in the country to begin collecting and distributing convalescent plasma, according to the facility.

"There is an increased demand from hospitals for convalescent plasma and we want to be able to meet that need," Scholl said. "You're plasma will be used to help other patients. The success has been promising."

DeSantis said the state offers antibody testing at multiple facilities around the state.

Chief Medical Director Dr. Rita Reik of OneBlood said convalescent plasma was only recently approved by the FDA as an experimental treatment for COVID-19.

"The antibodies from a COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor can boost the immune system of somebody very sick in the ICU or someone who's just had a massive exposure," She said. "We're finding that we have very positive results from it. They're not published yet. The analyses are still being done, but we're very encouraged by what we see."

She said hospitals are shifting to using convalescent plasma earlier in the treatment of the disease and have expanded the number of patients who are being treated with it.

"We don't have a donor database, so we do not know where to find people who have had COVID-19, and we need them to come forth voluntarily and register on our website at OneBlood.org, in order to make themselves available to help save a person who is battling COVID-19," the doctor said.

DeSantis said antibody testing is available at the Orange County Convention Center, Jacksonville drive-thru test site, West Palm Beach ballpark site, Miami Beach Convention Center and Hard Rock Stadium.

"We've been seeing an increase in prevalence of people who are testing positive for antibodies," the governor said. "If you do test positive for antibodies, you'll get the result right there. Go with OneBlood and consider giving blood so that you are able to be in a situation where you are helping patients."