Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, issued a statewide stay-at-home order on Wednesday afternoon to curb the rate of infection in his state during the global coronavirus pandemic.
The order will go into effect at midnight Thursday and last for at least 30 days.
“It makes sense to make this move now,” the governor said during a press conference Wednesday, adding that he was taking the action after President Trump extended the social distancing guidelines nationwide for another 30 days.
DeSantis, who has hesitated for weeks at issuing such an order, also changed his mind less than a day after receiving a letter from 13 Democratic members of Congress urging him to “immediately issue a statewide stay-at-home order to save lives.”
“This pandemic has not respected global borders so it certainly will not respect county borders,” the letter said. “We cannot wait, we cannot leave this decision to county or municipal governments.”
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