Gov. Ron DeSantis — “Florida is Open”

Tallahassee, FL — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced all of Florida’s COVID-19 restrictions are repealed, effective immediately.

The move makes Florida the largest state to completely reopen, with Gov. DeSantis once again proving he isn’t afraid to push back against the shutdown crowd. His new executive actions override local restrictions, which cities like Orlando and Miami largely left in place.

Democrat St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman responded to DeSantis, saying, “This act, this isn’t for the protection of Floridians. This is for politics.”

Mayor Kriseman’s criticisms don’t seem to hold water, given Florida’s COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to drop day-over-day, even though Florida has been mostly open for months. Lockdown states like New York and Michigan, however, are still struggling with high case numbers.

Leftist mobs on social media have gone as far as labeling the Florida Governor “DeathSantis.” Of course, according to the left, Republicans are the ones playing politics with the pandemic.

DeSantis seems to be unfazed by the criticisms saying the Executive Order is “the evidence-based thing to do.”

To be clear, DeSantis’ Executive Order only stops local governments from making restrictions. If a Florida business still wants to require masks on their property, they are free to continue those restrictions.

DeSantis also signed legislation banning the practice of “vaccine passports.” So no business or entity can require proof of vaccination. Vaccine passports may become a bigger issue going forward if President Biden decides to go down that path on a national level.

While many states are moving towards reopening, few have done so as dynamically as Florida under the leadership of Gov. DeSantis. This was further proven when the Governor declared for all of Florida to hear, “we are no longer in a state of emergency.”