DeSantis on reopening FL: Lockdowns ‘a failed approach’

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) asserts that reopening Florida was the “proper approach” to overcome the state’s COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that his state’s experience with the virus confirmed “the lockdown approach is a failed approach.”

Country led astray

The Republican governor also explained to The Ingraham Angle that states enforcing lockdowns incurred the most damage.

“Not only has it been absolutely destructive to those societies [that implemented it], the COVID results per capita have been worse in places like New York and New Jersey and Pennsylvania,” he told host Laura Ingraham Thursday, according to Fox News.

His reopening went directly against prescribed restrictions and nationwide closures given by White House Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci, who Ingraham slammed for circulating failed COVID-19 guidance that was “not driven by science.”

Earlier last week, DeSantis emphasized how his bucking against the severe Democratic-led lockdowns has paid off.

“Everyone told me I was wrong,” DeSantis said Tuesday, according to CNN. “I faced continued pressure from radical Democrats and the liberal media, but I refused to back down. It’s clear: Florida got it right.”

He went on to say the massive lockdowns have done more harm than good.

“Those lockdowns have not worked – they’ve done great damage to our country,” DeSantis argued at a Tuesday news conference in Tallahassee, as reported by CNN. “We can never let something like this happen again. Florida took a different path. We’ve had more success as a result.”

Turning from politics toward science

After witnessing the adverse effects of lockdowns, DeSantis recently met with a consortium of epidemiologists who wrote the “Great Barrington Declaration,” which called for a “focused protection” strategy to fight the coronavirus. Fox News recounted how this plan of action is in direct opposition to the stringent widespread edicts promoted by Democratic governors and many federal health authorities from coast to coast.

“These are some of the top experts in the world [who have] been able to validate that Florida’s approach was the proper approach,” the conservative governor pointed out to Ingraham.

He noted how his administration’s focused approach has resulted in 70% of Florida’s senior citizens being vaccinated for COVID-19 – a per capita rate that greatly exceeds numerous states.

“In Florida, we followed a strategy of focused protection on elderly and vulnerable people, having the economy open, having schools open,” DeSantis listed off. “The result is our unemployment is significantly less than the national average – our COVID mortality per capita is less than the national average.”

Ingraham corroborated the effectiveness of DeSantis’ shift in the way Florida has tackled the pandemic, stressing how the Republican’s local critics have praised the way he is now handling the virus.

Republicans right, Dems wrong?

Even though Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez decried the state capital of Tallahassee for keeping local authorities from enforcing fines and other punishments on those not wearing masks, he recognized the success of DeSantis reopening the state.

“I have to commend [DeSantis] because he did take some decisions that were courageous, and the fact of the matter is the economy is relatively open and booming,” Suarez expressed in an interview, according to Fox News.

In response, DeSantis – who recently announced that Critical Race Theory touted by the Biden administration will not be taught in Florida public schools because of its divisive nature – made his position clear that local governments should retain some control over health policy, but he stressed that any directives should be “advisory” in nature – not enforced by law.

Even the far-left-leaning CNN conceded that DeSantis’ resistance to the Democrats’ stringent lockdown strategy has resulted in Florida’s booming economy and statewide health that rivals states retaining the most severe lockdowns.

“After a year of criticism by health experts, mockery from comedians and blistering critiques from political rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is standing unabashedly tall among the nation’s governors on the front lines of the coronavirus fight,” CNN reported Wednesday.

It was noted that DeSantis – the nation’s youngest governor at 42 years of age – evidently made the right decision and is a step ahead of his colleagues.

“As many parts of the country embark on an uneasy march toward normalcy, Florida is not only back in business – it’s been in business for the better part of the past year,” CNN noted. “DeSantis’ gamble to take a laissez faire approach appears to be paying off … as other governors capturing attention in the opening phase of the pandemic now face steeper challenges.”

Statistics also indicate that all the strict social distancing, lockdowns, forced closures and mask mandates did little or nothing to curb the pandemic, as Florida is no worse off than many states with strict COVID enforcements.

“Despite far fewer rules and restrictions, Florida lands nearly in the middle of all states on a variety of coronavirus metrics,” the report added. “The state has had about 3% more COVID-19 cases per capita than the U.S. overall, but about 8% fewer deaths per capita.”

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Copyright American Family News. Reprinted with permission.