- April 19, 2024
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Though coronavirus cases are on the rise in Florida — the state reported a record of over 3,819 cases on Friday, June 19 — Gov. Ron DeSantis said that hospitals have twice the capacity of available beds compared to the beginning of the pandemic, and, that the new cases are skewing toward the younger population, who are considered less at risk for fatality.
During a press conference in Miami on Friday, June 19, DeSantis attributed the increase of cases to mass testing, especially in populations that wouldn't have been able to get tested back in March and April.
“A new case is just a positive test," DeSantis said. "It doesn’t mean someone’s sick, and in many cases, when you have this low number of people in terms of the age, a lot of them don’t have symptoms.”
Intensive care unit hospitalizations have decreased since April, and statewide, the median age for new cases was 37 last week. No one under 18 years old has died yet either, DeSantis explained, saying these new cases have less of a clinical consequence, as 86% of the fatalities due to the coronavirus have occurred in people 65 and ollder.
Mary Mayhew, secretary for the Agency for Health Care Administration, spoke about the level of collaboration between hospitals caused by the pandemic, highlighting the increased focus on surge capacity today.
“You have had laser beam focus on protecting our most vulnerable, our elderly, our medically frail, and you’ve also understood that it was critical to monitor our healthcare system’s capacity," Mayhew said of DeSantis.
DeSantis also won't be instating a statewide mask mandate. He said the counties that chosen to put such a mandate in place are responsible for enforcing it. Wearing masks comes down to voluntary compliance, the governor said.
When asked if he believed the rise of COVID-19 cases could be attributed to the recent protests, DeSantis said he has not had the Department of Health substantiate that claim. However, there could be a correlation, he said, as "social distancing took a backseat to social justice.
"So the thing is from a public health perspective, you may think that protest is the most important thing you need to do as a citizen — I respect that — but understand from a virus perspective, gathering with 5,000 people to protest something that’s important to you is no different than gathering with 5,000 people to do something else that may not be considered as significant,” DeSantis said.
