Governor Ron DeSantis recently said the COVID-19 figures have improved statewide. However, there are huge differences, he said, according to one's location in Florida.

Specifically, the governor said, there are more hospital confinements in Miami-Dade than in Lee, Duval, Collier, Hillsborough, and Pinellas combined. He also added, "And it's not even close."

DeSantis delivered the speech from Lee Health in Fort Meyers where the health care workers, particularly the doctors, claim, elective surgeries now permitted in phase-one reopening are still just about 50 percent of the figure they saw before the public health crisis.

Also according to the governor, hospitals in Florida will be given the Remdesivir, an antiviral drug, although not immediately. Meanwhile, a list from the federal government showed Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York to receive first the said drug.

COVID-19 in Florida

Florida, the governor guaranteed, is going to be in the second batch of states to receive Remdesivir. In addition, DeSantis also said he believes antibody testing will show that the COVID-19 already existed earlier than everyone first believed.

The government official explained he is also expecting a "new antigen testing" to arrive in the state soon. He specified, "The one that just got urgent approval from the Food and Drug Administration or FDA for a 15-minute result, and it can already be produced."

He thinks too that the new rapid testing will be able to be produced in greater quantities, and get results faster.

Presently, according to DeSantis, there are more than 460 COVID-19 patients in Florida hospitals' intensive care adding, 263 of the 6,500 ventilators of the ventilators are currently being used.

Florida's Phase-One Reopening

Early this month, it was announced that the state's phase-one reopening was taking place, on May 4, to be exact. Relatively at that time, the said reopening, as reported, would be in place and remain as was, until a replacement by a "subsequent executive order" took place.

DeSantis at that time, could not still provide a specific timeline for the state's entry to phase two, although he said, he was thinking of weeks and not about months for "each of the three phases."

During the phase one reopening, the safer-at-home order was set to expire but was extended for a couple of days, when the said reopening began.

The new directive would still require that the Floridians restrict their movements, as well as their whereabouts to the companies that were open.

Not the whole of Florida entered the phase one reopening. Technically, according to reports, "Executive Order 20-112 was issued for the entire state." 

Nevertheless, the governor was working with the mayors of Boward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties to guarantee they had stricter procedure in place.

One of the differences from President Donald trump's laid out plan was that, the latter "allowed gyms to reopen in phase one," but the governor held back on that, for at least a few weeks. However, one similarity was that, both plans called for phased or step-by-step strategies.

Check these out!