Gov. Ron DeSantis announced late Monday that anyone on a flight from the New York City area must self-isolate for 14 days upon arriving in Florida. DeSantis will make it a criminal penalty for anyone that refuses to follow this order. The order applies to anyone whose flight originates from New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 24.
“I would reckon, given the outbreak there, that every single flight has somebody on it who is positive for COVID-19,” he said. With more than 20,000 cases, New York has the most people infected with the virus compared to anywhere else in the world. The order is in response to President Donald Trump’s refusal to halt domestic travel, DeSantis said. The governor has been asking Trump to limit flights to Florida for more than a week now.
There are no restrictions for people traveling to Florida by car. The order will only affect those on air travel. DeSantis said that people in cars aren't exposing others the way they might on a plane. DeSantis explains that you can't shut down our society indefinitely because it's something society will not accept. “If you look at what happened in New York, when they did the stay at home order, what did people do?” he said Monday morning. “Well, a lot of people fled the city. ... We’re getting huge amounts of people flying in.” On Monday there were 190 direct flights to Florida from the New York area, he explains. DeSantis announced the new order during a news conference in Tallahassee. Trump is leaving coronavirus response largely up to the states and many governors have issued their own lock-down orders and closed non-essential businesses.
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