As the coronavirus pandemic continues, Tallahassee continues to remain open. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state is “not going back” when asked about his plans for reverting to a lockdown at a news conference Tuesday, despite the thousands of new cases that are erupting, even setting a one day record of more than 10,000 in a single day this week.
“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. I think when you see the younger folks, I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that’s natural,” DeSantis said.
Florida has surged to become one of the nation’s top hot spots for new coronavirus cases, with 3,505 covid related deaths and 152,434 total reported cases, in which the cases have tripled in just a month. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, is working with his agency, facilitating a plan to safely reopen the United States. Redfield has saida second wave of the fatal virus will be far more dreadful because it is likely to concur with the start of flu season.
“We’re going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we are experiencing currently,” Redfield said.
Redfield said that DeSantis needs to use the coming months to prepare for what lies ahead, emphasizing the importance of social distancing.
Avery Jacobs, a graduate of Florida A&M University, believes social distancing is very important; however, many people in Tallahassee are not taking matters seriously.
“We live in the city of Tallahassee where it is a college town, therefore FAMU and Florida State University students may be accustomed to going out for drinks, going to the bars, and going to the clubs, but we have to remember to practice that social distancing. People are dying because of this pandemic. COVID-19 has had a drastic impact on many individuals, which in some cases resulted in a fatality,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs serves as video editor for the Black News Channel in Tallahassee, where employees must wear masks and gloves while practicing social distancing at work. He said he feels a lot more comfortable working in these conditions, to help govern the spread of the virus.
“I refuse to lose my life or end up in the hospital because of something that we can prevent by simply wearing a mask and pressing effective social distancing habits,” he said.