After Much Pressure, Florida Governor Issues Stay-At-Home Order

Topline: With a national death toll predicted to be between 100,000 and 240,000, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis gives into pressure and announced a statewide shutdown through April, making Florida the last state with over 5,000 cases to comply with national guidelines. 

• A statewide shutdown, defined as limiting outside the home interaction to essential activity, will begin Thursday and last through at least April 30.
• “Given the unique situation in Florida, I’m going to be doing an executive order today directing all Floridians to limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities,” said DeSantis in a press conference Wednesday. 
• Florida now has 6,741 confirmed coronavirus cases with 87 deaths and 900 hospitalizations.
• Only businesses deemed essential will remain open, which includes firearms and ammunition stores. 
• DeSantis has come under widespread scrutiny by preventing the 1,432-passenger MS Zaandam cruise ship, which has had four COVID-19 deaths and 200 passengers with symptoms, from docking in Ft. Lauderdale.

Key background: There are 887,067 cases of coronavirus globally with 190,740 in the United States. So far, 44,264 people around the world have died from COVID-19, with the U.S. death toll surpassing 4,000. On Tuesday the White House announced the death toll to be between 100,000 and 240,000 by mid-June with social distancing. Without social distancing the U.S. death toll would be between 1.5  and 2.2 million, according to the model.