Florida Governor Receives Backlash For Refusing To Shut Down Beaches As Coronavirus Cases Rise
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is receiving major backlash after he refused to close the states beaches. He explained his decision to reporters on Tuesday, despite growing concerns over the international COVID-19 outbreak, NBC News reports. Instead, DeSantis signed an order that would just limit parties on beaches to only 10 people per group while restaurants will be forced to reduce occupancy by half.
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The governor also explained that local governments can make their own decisions but that his order would follow the latest guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“What we’re going to be doing for the statewide floor for beaches, we’re going to be applying the CDC guidance of no group on a beach more than 10 and you have to have distance apart if you’re going to be out there,” he said. “So that applies statewide.” He added, “We’ve seen some big crowds on the west coast of Florida and I’ve had a chance to speak to mayors on both coast today. If … they want to continue to [leave the beach open], we want them to have the freedom to do that, but we also want them to have the freedom to do more if they see fit,” DeSantis also said, according to a local NBC affiliate.
In an interview on Thursday with Fox & Friends, DeSantis spoke about it more and said he wouldn’t close down every beach, but stressed that they will be made to comply with the CDC’s virus prevention guidelines. Furious social media users took to his personal accounts to demand change in an effort to help stop the spread of the virus.
(Photo Credit: Screenshot from Ron DeSantis‘ Instagram page)
As of Tuesday, the state has 192 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and five deaths in the outbreak.
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Get off the damn beach and go home.
Partying is fun a pandemic is not. @GovRonDeSantis close the beaches. The economic loss will be nothing in comparison to the lives lost if action is not immediately taken.pic.twitter.com/LHzu2MgjFA— David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) March 19, 2020
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