The Florida legislature is debating a bill that would provide some protection for businesses from COVID-related lawsuits by raising the bar for plaintiffs.

Under H.B. 7, an employee or customer of a Florida business who claims to have contracted COVID there would have to include with any lawsuit an affidavit signed by a physician stating that "within a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the alleged injuries or damages were the result of the defendants acts or omissions.”

This is a requirement for medical malpractice cases. However, Democrats on the House Pandemics and Public Emergencies Committee said the situations were not analogous and that the requirement would bar COVID victims from Florida courthouses.

The bill advanced in the committee 11 to 6 along party lines. It now goes to the House Judiciary Committee. An identical bill is making its way through the state Senate.