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Florida’s aging services providers said they are losing money every month because of increased COVID-19 costs in a roundtable discussion Tuesday.

They are concerned of even greater losses if the state stops paying for regular staff and resident testing.

200,000 staff and 150,000 assisted living facility residents get COVID tests every two weeks.

The facilities liken the pandemic to a category five hurricane sweeping across their businesses.

“We don’t now what comes next if the state funded testing ends in September. What we do know is that our members estimate costs between $25,000 and $300,000 per month for ongoing staff testing,” said Steve Bahmer, CEO of Leading Edge Florida.

The facilities are experiencing staff fatigue and short staffing when someone tests positive or needs to be isolated because of contact.

“We must provide testing for both our staff and our residents. That’s the only mechanism that we have right now to ensure that we are keeping everybody safe,” said Campus Senior Life CEO Jay Solomon.

Despite the facilities’ concerns, the Governor told them not to worry.

During the medical roundtable with hospitals, the Governor told us there were no plans to shift the costs of testing to the elder facilities.

“Where we’re doing every staff member every two weeks, and that’s going to keep on going. We’ve not put any limitation on that,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

And good news may be on the horizon.

During the roundtable, Florida Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Moorehead told the Governor there is light at the end of the tunnel.

“For over the last week, we’ve had a very significant plateau, which has been incredibly welcome,” said Moorehead.

But that light can’t come soon enough for the facilities racking up costs or for patients who have been isolated from the outside for months.

The Governor reiterated Tuesday that the state has sufficient hospital and intensive care beds to care for COVID patients and anyone needing medical care.