Should Florida reopen? Some local lawmakers believe so
Governor Ron DeSantis spent his morning at the White House Tuesday discussing Florida's future.
“We had such an uneven outbreak. We were doing contact tracing throughout this whole time in parts of the state that the outbreak wasn’t as severe. They limited the spread," said DeSantis.
This comes as DeSantis’ Safer At Home executive order draws closer to an end.
“However, we move forward- and I’ll announce that soon- you’re going to see even more attention paid to the vulnerable,” said DeSantis.
Meanwhile, neighboring states like Texas and Georgia are gearing up to reopen things like movie theaters and gyms.
Local resident Norman Anderson said, "You know with the Governor reopening in Georgia, he’s just going to find out one way or the other if he made the right decision or not.”
“Yeah I think everything should start to trickle back in, yeah go ahead and open up. I mean if there’s tons of people piled in Walmart, then why can’t there be tons of people piled on the beach right now?” asked local resident Alex Hughes.
As of Tuesday afternoon, our Facebook poll showed 43% of people believe Florida is ready to reopen, while 57% say it should stay closed. But lawmakers we spoke with are in agreement that the state should reopen, although they have different ideas on how to do it.
Congressman Dr. Neal Dunn said, “It’s a geographical. It’s driven more by geography than by what institutions you’re opening, absolutely.”
But State Representative Jay Trumbull believes now is the time to lift all restrictions in the Panhandle, rather than a phased approach.
“We shouldn’t pick and choose what should be open or what shouldn’t be. I think that elective surgeries need to start being opened back up... People like dentists need to be able to continue to operate. You know, we need to get restaurants back open,” said Trumbull.
Regardless of how it's done, Governor DeSantis hinted at Tuesday’s press conference he will make some sort of announcement Wednesday.
“Obviously we’ve been thinking about what we’re going to need to do and so we’ll announce it tomorrow about the next step forward for Florida,” said DeSantis.
Bay County mayors are also weighing in on the issue.
Lynn Haven mayor Margo Anderson said, “I’m really ready to see our city start reopening with caution. You know we all are very good at social distancing, the hand washing, the masks, and those of who us know we have family members or friends who are immune compromised or in the age group that is typical of more health issues- we know we can stay home.”
Both Representative Jay Trumbull and Congressman Neal Dunn made it a point to say most of Florida's cases are in the southern counties and believe our area is not facing the kind of threat South Florida is facing.
