Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he would not even consider pulling back the state’s reopening even as coronavirus cases have skyrocketed over the last two weeks.
"We're not going back, closing things. I don't think that that's really what's driving it, people going to a business is not what's driving it," DeSantis said on Tuesday. "I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that's natural."
"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,” he added.
The state has reported more than 3,500 deaths and more than 14,500 hospitalizations out of more than 152,000 confirmed cases. More than 50% of all cases in the US are from Florida, Texas, California, and Arizona.
Others states pull back:
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that the state would pause its reopening and shut down bars in response to the rising cases.
Abbott also shut down elective surgeries in the state’s biggest cities to increase hospital capacity.
Some states, like New York and New Jersey, have imposed a self-quarantine requirement from travelers coming from hard-hit states.
New York and New Jersey also announced that they would delay their plans to reopen indoor dining and bars in response to the increasing cases.
Fauci warns:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the country, warned that the United States could soon hit 100,000 new cases per day. The country is currently seeing about 40,000 new cases per day.
"We've got to make sure that when states start to try to open again, they need to follow the guidelines that have been very carefully laid out with regard to checkpoints," Fauci said, adding that some states were "going too quickly" and "skipping over some of the checkpoints."
Fauci warned that other states are at risk because of outbreaks in states like Florida.
"I will guarantee you that, because when you have an outbreak in one part of the country — even though in other parts of the country they're doing well — they are vulnerable," he said. "I made that point very clearly last week at a press conference. We can't just focus on those areas that are having the surge. It puts the entire country at risk."
