Florida governor issues statewide stay-at-home order
Associated PressTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. The governor said it made sense to expand stay-home measures statewide now “even though there are a lot of places that have very low infection rates.” His move came the same day two other Republican governors in the South, Brian Kemp in Georgia and Tate Reeves of Mississippi, also issued stay-home orders after repeatedly refusing to do so. State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the only statewide elected Democrat, said she had pushed for a statewide order for two weeks “to flatten the curve and save lives.” “I said then I would stand with the Governor when he issued the order, and I do so now. ‘While safety is the top priority, we also believe that it is important for essential workers to be able to get crops to the grocery store, ensure that our first responders’ vehicles are maintained and ready to move and that we can get front line health care workers the safety equipment that they desperately need,” spokeswoman Edie Ousley said. DeSantis had been defending his county-by-county approach almost daily for the past two weeks as other governors in similarly heavily populated states including California, New York and Illinois, issued statewide lockdown orders.
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Coronavirus: Florida governor adds exemption for churches in stay-at-home order
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Virginia, Maryland and South Florida residents are the latest to be told to stay home
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