College of Medicine

Dr. George Rust, clinician, professor and Director of the Center for Medicine and Public Health, was asked recently for comment on a newly proposed task force that would inform Florida's reopening during the Coronavirus pandemic.

The TTSI Task Force was proposed by three members of the Florida Senate in a June 8, 2020 letter to Governor DeSantis. In it, senators Berman, Cruz and Torres state that in the absence of a clear national strategy, it is incumbent upon the state to build its own planning and implementation structure to contain sudden outbreaks that might occur during reopening. The call for a task force that will allow for "cross-silo coordination" to address (1) supply chain issues related to Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and testing supplies, (2) development of a contact tracing regime, and (3) implementation of supported isolation programs. Dr. Rust noted that other types of coordination are happening at the local level and he sees a benefit to statewide communications, with a primary benefit of rapid response in a changing environment. 

TTSI is short for (t)esting, (t)racing and (s)upported (i)solation, which these senators believe are critical considerations facing Florida during its Coronavirus response.