Coronavirus in Florida: State reports 665 new cases, now over 1,000 deaths
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday said he is in no rush to lift restrictions on Florida’s businesses, which were shuttered by an executive order he issued earlier this month and is set to expire April 30.
The governor, in a livestreamed Saturday morning news briefing at a Cleveland Clinic facility in Weston, broke with President Donald Trump and Florida House Speaker José Oliva about how to right an economy sent into a tailspin by the coronavirus pandemic.
The comments came shortly after Oliva sent an email to constituents promoting an opinion piece that declared the pandemic over and said, “Let's stop the economic suicide, and get back to work.”
DeSantis explained he would not follow in lockstep with the “Opening Up America Again” guidelines issued earlier in the week by the White House. The first phase of that plan OKs the reopening of businesses like movie theaters, restaurants and sports venues under “strict physical distancing protocols.”
But DeSantis, a Trump supporter, said he’s not ready for that to happen in Florida: “We’re not doing in-person sports yet, no matter what. That’s just not going to happen in May.”
The governor explained he did allowed the wrestling organization WWE to continue to produce shows in Central Florida and has lobbied golfers Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to stage a televised competition in Florida as a way to provide content during the pandemic.
“Another thing in Phase 1, they say movie theaters with social distancing, (and) I’m not there yet on the movie theaters," DeSantis said. "I think it is an enclosed environment ... you are much better off being outdoors than in an enclosed environment — that's just a reality."
DeSantis defended what he called an even-handed approach in social-distancing policies. He said that, combined with increased access to testing, the state is showing progress in fighting the virus.
He added that his decisions would be driven by data, much of it produced by testing, which tracks how the virus is moving through the population.
The latest Florida Department of Health numbers released Saturday revealed 30,839 patients have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the potentially deadly respiratory illness caused by the virus — an increase of 665 over 24 hours.
The number of patients hospitalized by the virus increased by 150 since Friday morning, bringing the total to 4,849, and the death count has reached 1,055 — an increase of 43 fatalities in 24 hours.
DeSantis said the numbers show the curve of the virus’ trajectory has flattened. Dr. Wael Barsoum, CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic Florida, agreed that the trend in the number of cases and fatalities is heading downward.
“We’ve seen a significant decrease in the percentage of new patients each day over the course of the last two weeks, as well as the number of deaths per day over the last two days,” Barsoum said at the Saturday briefing.
"When you look at principles of quarantines and reversing quarantines, that is one of the first things you want to look for, is that over at least a two-week period you’re seeing a consistent decrease in the number of new cases and deaths each day ... I’m happy to say that we are seeing that,” Barsoum said.
The state reports more than 333,000 people have been tested for the virus with nearly 33,000 of them completed in just the last two days. DeSantis has employed the National Guard in rapid response teams to conduct tests. Florida has also opened drive-through and walk-up testing sites in numerous cities.
“When you test more, you obviously are going to find more cases," DeSantis said. "But ... if that rate is declining then you are doing a good job."
The state health department reports 9.5% of those tests have produced a positive result, a 1.2% drop since April 10. That compares to New York state, which reports a positive return of 21%, and with a tracking project by The Atlantic magazine, which pegs a nationwide positive rate of tests at nearly 20%.
Also Saturday, the governor's Re-Open Florida Task Force launched a website for Floridians to comment on how to proceed with lifting the stay-at-home measures that have led to an economic slowdown, with thousands of workers being furloughed and being laid off.
It seeks information about the pandemic's impact on small businesses, retail, sports and construction, education and healthcare, and opened a website to receive comments. The task force will submit recommendations to DeSantis this coming week.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on him Twitter: @CallTallahassee
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