Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state will not reimpose sweeping shutdowns amid rising coronavirus infections, saying that going back to lockdowns would cripple the economy without saving lives.
DeSantis drew the line even as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott last week ordered all bars closed, and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told residents to stay home and declared that the state was “on pause.” Just last week, after the state recorded 25,000 new infections in just five days and 9,000 in one day alone, Florida once again prohibited the on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars; there are no restrictions on occupancy at gyms or stores.
“We’re not going back, closing things,” DeSantis told reporters. “I don’t think that that really is what’s driving it, people going to a business is not what’s driving it. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that’s natural. Obviously, you had a lot of different activities going on in different parts of the state. … So that’s just the reality.”
Protests around the country, and in Florida, have seen a dramatic decline in social distancing in recent weeks. While data show that infections in Florida outpace new testing, the numbers also indicate that many of the newly infected are young and are not becoming seriously ill.
DeSantis added that doomsday predictions about Florida’s coronavirus numbers were off-base, and urged young residents to “protect the vulnerable” by socially distancing and steering clear of the elderly — stopping short of other governors, who have suggested residents should generally stay home.
“We’re open, we know who we need to protect, most of the folks in those younger demographics, although we want them to be mindful of what’s going on, are just simply much much less at risk than the folks who are in those older age groups,” DeSantis added. – READ MORE
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