Florida’s Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried has issued a statement asking Governor Ron DeSantis to consider implementing a “stay-at-home” order in Florida in response to the current COVID-19 crisis.
California, New York and Illinois have already a similar order in place, and Connecticut has their own “Stay Safe, Stay Home” policy in effect.
In the commissioner’s statement, Fried said that she recognizes the difficult decisions that Governor DeSantis has had to make during the COVID-19 outbreak.
“No Governor in recent history would have expected to have to make a decision like California, New York, or Illinois have made in the past 72 hours,” she said. “Shutting down one of the nation’s largest states is a decision that will have an economic impact – but it is a decision that will save lives.”
As of Friday, there have been ten deaths related to COVID-19 and more than 560 cases have been confirmed in Florida.
According to Fried, Florida is about a week behind California in terms of coronavirus cases, based on current data , and she recommends closing all non-essential businesses “for a reasonable time frame, after which time the situation could be reassessed.”
“I encourage the Governor to take this decisive action today to save lives and preserve Florida’s economy for our shared future. I will stand by the Governor should he make this difficult decision, and I implore him to do so now.”
