Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lashed out at the Biden government on Thursday after media reports that the White House may want to file a domestic travel ban to stop new forms of COVID-19 spreading across the country.
“Any attempt to restrict or shut off Florida by the federal government would be an attack on our state for purely political purposes,” the Florida Republican said at the press conference.
“It would be unconstitutional. It would be unwise and it would be unjust,” he added, saying that the move was not based on science, but rather on a “political attack” on the people of Florida.
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White House press officer Jen Psaki was informed Thursday during a press conference about the government’s alleged consideration of a domestic travel ban.
“ We are always considering what steps are needed to protect the American people, but we are not currently concerned with – no decisions have been made on additional public health measures that would, I would say, delay or change domestic travel. considerations, ”said Psaki.
Florida relies heavily on tourism, meaning any attempt to stop interstate travel could have huge ramifications for the Sunshine State.
But according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida is leading in the number of cases of the new B.1.1.7 strain – a more highly contagious variant of the coronavirus, first reported in the UK
Health officials are concerned that the new strains of the coronavirus that have emerged could put aside vaccine advancement, as the new variants require different treatments and alter “the effectiveness of current vaccines,” the CDC has warned.
But DeSantis pointed to the progress the state has made since the summer, when Florida saw a rising caseload.
“Florida’s cases per capita compared to the rest of the country – 28,” DeSantis said, adding that 27 other states were worse off than Florida in the number of coronavirus cases reported since early December. “Per capita deaths, for the same period, Florida is at 42,” he continued.
DeSantis also praised the state’s high vaccination rates, especially among seniors.
“We now report about 1.6 million seniors who have been injected, that’s about 35 percent of our gigantic senior population,” DeSantis said Thursday. “We are number one for senior shots.”
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The Florida governor’s objection to a travel ban is a reversal of his position from last year when he instituted a two-week quarantine for those from high-contamination states like New York.