Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state will not implement lockdowns in the future, arguing that countries that have implemented strict measures have worse outcomes than those that did not.
“We will never do any of these lockdowns again, and I hear people say they’ll shut down the country, and honestly, I cringe. The most draconian lockdown in the world has been Peru — military enforced since March. They have the highest per capita mortality in the world from COVID,” he said at a joint press conference with Dr. Scott Atlas, the newest addition to President Trump’s coronavirus team, on Monday.
“And at best, what the lockdown will do is delay. It does not reduce the ultimate mortality … it creates a lot of other problems with mortality that a lot of people don’t necessarily focus on.”
Public health officials have warned that the lockdowns have severely affected treatments for other diseases. Earlier this year, colon cancer screenings were down 90% from 2019 levels. An analysis conducted by health records company Epic found that screenings for breast and cervical cancer fell by 90% compared to 2019 statistics.
Florida Department of Education head Richard Corcoran said during the conference that nearly 60% of Florida’s students were back in the classroom.
“We don’t have a case in Florida yet where we’ve seen a child in the K-12 setting spread it to an adult, but the other way around is much more dangerous,” Corcoran said.
“The harm of not opening schools is really tremendous,” Atlas added. “We want to have schools open as much as possible.” The doctor also argued that college football needed to resume because it was economically essential.
Schools across Europe have reopened after the continent experienced a wave of cases in the spring and early summer. In Sweden, which did not close schools, infection rates for elementary and daycare teachers were no higher than infection rates for workers in other sectors. Infection rates among children in Finland, which did close schools, were similar to Sweden.
DeSantis’s comment comes after Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said last month he would lock the country down if he is elected come November and if the coronavirus makes a resurgence.
“I would shut it down; I would listen to the scientists,” Biden told ABC’s David Muir in August. “We’re going to do whatever it takes to save lives.”
