Gov. Ron DeSantis held a coronavirus briefing at Gulf Coast Medical Center in south Fort Myers Friday afternoon, where he discussed new COVID-19 numbers and plans.
To lower that rate of positive cases, DeSantis says everyone must follow the guidelines. The governor said the state isn’t going to do anything drastic, but he insists we fight the urge to do too much too soon.
- Keep social distancing
- Limit large groups
- Wash your hands thoroughly
- Wear a mask
But DeSantis does not want to order a statewide mask mandate. He says Phase 1 was successful, but everyone still needs to follow guidelines, avoiding enclosed or crowded spaces, whether you have COVID-19 symptoms or not.
DeSantis says cases for people ages 24 to 35 tripled since June 1.
And that’s part of why Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation decided to stop bars from serving alcohol on premises.
“Phase 1, when people follow the guidelines, we’ve not had any problems; we’ve not had any issues,” DeSantis said at GCMC. “The reason why DBPR took it is because there were people who weren’t following it. There was widespread noncompliance, and that led to issues … So folks just follow the guidelines, we’re going to be in good shape when you depart from that. Then, it becomes problematic, and so I think that’s been clear from the beginning.”
DeSantis emphasized that he thinks it’s not so much businesses but rather the irresponsible social interactions causing the spike. He’s asking — but not ordering — that people practice good hygiene and avoiding crowded spaces, especially indoors to lessen the spread.
“At the end of the day, you know folks understand the issue,” DeSantis said. “They understand it’s back, and they understand it’s something that we’ve got to deal with. And I think a lot of people are gonna want to be able to do that.”
You can watch the whole briefing in the stream below: