They have the power to issue stay at home orders, move medical equipment and tests to where they're needed most and deem what activities are essential and not in their own states. All eyes are on the governors during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.
For the most part, governors around the country are getting high marks from other politicians and their constituents for their leadership during the outbreak. According to recent polling from FiveThirtyEight, a majority of people in each state are happy with how their respective governors have handled COVID-19 so far.
Just like during an election, attention has been particularly focused on states with large populations and metropolitan areas -- New York, California, Florida and Texas.
There are also some states, like Iowa and Washington, that aren’t necessarily hot spots for the virus but have seen public approval rise for their responses to the outbreak.
Focusing on Florida, here’s how Gov. Ron Desantis compares to other governors in his response to the coronavirus.
Shutting down the state
Two of the country’s most populous states -- New York and California -- enacted stay at home orders in mid-March. California was first (March 19) -- issuing one of the strictest orders -- while New York followed on March 22. Though New York and California are among the states with the highest number of cases, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Gov. Gavin Newsom have been praised for their leadership and response to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Florida and Texas are also in the top 10 states for COVID-19 cases, and both signed stay at home orders around the same time -- Texas on April 2 and Florida on April 3.
While Gov. Greg Abott was criticized for waiting too long to give a clear message and order Texans to stay at home except for essential services, he’s also been praised for trying not to pick political sides during the pandemic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis faces similar criticism about not ordering residents to stay home until April 3, being called a "hesitant leader" who has taken "misguided direction" from the president.
In a video message to Floridians posted April 20 on Twitter, DeSantis said "we did not panic" when "media reports came flying in" about coronavirus projections in the state before the stay at home order. He said he and his team "made fact-based, data-backed decisions," by calling for a state of emergency and activating the Florida National Guard.
His executive order telling Floridians to stay at home does not specify beach closures. DeSantis instead left the authority over the beaches up to local leaders. The majority of beaches around the state have been closed since the stay at home order took effect. Several have recently reopened with restrictions.
DeSantis deemed church services as essential but also left local governments the power to impose social distancing restrictions.
"As for churches, Governor DeSantis understands that churches, synagogues and places of worship hold a unique place under the First Amendment," his press office said. "He encourages Floridians to worship in a safe manner that is consistent with social distancing guidelines."
Reopening the state
Both Cuomo and Newsom have joined forces with nearby states to coordinate reopening non-essential business, activities and schools. Both governors have said they are taking guidance from medical experts on how to best reopen while still protecting residents. Newsom’s stay at home order does not have an expiration date, but Cuomo’s is tentatively set for May 15.
Both Florida’s and Texas’ stay at home orders expire after April 30. Last week, Abbott said a group of medical and economic experts will guide him in slowly reopening the state economy, saying not all businesses can reopen at once. Abbott’s plan began Monday, April 20.
DeSantis also built a task force to help reopen Florida.
The Florida task force is a group of lawmakers, business leaders, education experts and medical professionals with the goal of formulating the next best steps to getting residents back to work while also keeping them safe.
DeSantis said on April 17 that he and his task force will look to the White House reopening guidelines as a baseline for what's next in Florida, including using a three-phase plan.
Trump's proposal for a phased reopening of the country includes these phases:
- Phase one: Keeping social distancing guidelines in place and discourages non-essential travel
- Phase two: Keeping gatherings to less than 50 people and allow for all travel to resume
- Phase three: Would be when life essentially returns to "normal" for most Americans
Unique challenges
As much of the authority in combating the coronavirus pandemic is left up to the governors, each state has faced its own unique challenges.
For Newsom and Cuomo, it’s been about responding to and battling a highly-contagious disease in the most populous states in the country. These states also have the two most populous cities in the country -- New York City and Los Angeles. With a virus like COVID-19, the more people in one city, the most difficult the social distancing and containment measures.
Texas also has three of the most populated cities in the U.S. -- Houston, Dallas and Austin -- all with unique demographics.
Those governors, along with many others around the country including Florida, have hosted daily virtual news conferences to better disseminate information to the millions of people in their respective states.
With Florida, the most unique challenge comes with the beaches. In his executive order, DeSantis didn’t specify what to do about the state’s 663 miles of beaches. Instead, the decisions to close down or reopen beaches have been left up to local leaders, who then closed most beaches anyway.
"Florida is a very large and diverse state, and a one-size-fits-all approach is not what Florida needs. By providing local leaders the authority to make key decisions, Governor DeSantis is empowering them to do what is best for their communities," the governor's press office said.
Last week, Jacksonville Beach and others in Duval County reopened for exercise with local leaders urging residents to not linger or gather. Still, the move to reopen some beaches prompted #FloridaMorons to trend on Twitter as images showed dozens of people walking the shorelines.
Florida is also known for attracting millions of visitors every year and having a large elderly population. DeSantis said he's addressed these challenges requiring travelers from COVID-19 hot spots to isolate for 14 days, suspending vacation rentals and urging those over age 65 to stay home.
Working with the federal government or other states
The west and east coast governors -- Newsom and Cuomo -- each joined multi-state pacts to come up with a regional plan to reopen economies and lift stay at home orders. Cuomo joined forces with leaders in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Newsom teamed up with the governors of Oregon and Washington.
Texas and Florida have taken similar approaches when it comes to working with leaders outside of their respective states.
Abbott’s plan for Texas began Monday with reopening state parks and will continue this week with some non-essential medical procedures being allowed and letting some retailers offer purchase pickup services.
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DeSantis’ task force is still meeting every day this week to figure out what's next to reopen Florida, but he said Tuesday that he wants to get the state economy back up and moving as quickly as possible but minimize the risk of further spreading coronavirus.
“You know, how do you operate in a way that is going to minimize risk? That’s what we tried to do here in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.
Some of the biggest industries and businesses in the state are represented in the task force, including Disney World, Universal, Florida Bankers Association and Lockheed Martin. Those with medical input include Tampa General Hospital President and CEO John Couris.
"Governor DeSantis is in constant communication with mayors of the most heavily impacted communities to ensure they are receiving the support and assistance they need to combat COVID-19," the governor's press office said. "Additionally, he speaks routinely with President Trump and members of the Coronavirus Task Force regarding issues pertinent to Florida's response and mitigation efforts."
His office also said DeSantis recently was on a call Saturday with other Southeastern governors.
DeSantis has also touted hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that President Trump has openly advocated for. Health experts have said there's only anecdotal evidence of the drug's success in treating coronavirus, and actual clinical trials are underway.
On April 7, DeSantis announced Florida was getting at least a million more doses of the drug for COVID-19 patients.
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Flattening the curve?
When asked specific questions about Florida's beaches, deeming churches and WWE essential, and how he thinks he compares to governors in New York, California and Texas, DeSantis' communications team pointed to the April 20 video message titled "Florida is flattening the curve."
In the video and other tweets the past couple of days, DeSantis says Floridians are "doing a great job at stopping the spread" of coronavirus and are flattening the curve of COVID-19 cases and deaths.
He says Florida did not follow hard-hit places like Italy and New York, and "data shows (Florida's) efforts are working well."
"Governor DeSantis does not treat the state’s response as a competition. Every state is different, and he is committed to doing what is right to ensure the safety of the people of Florida," the governor's press office said.
In an appearance on Fox News, DeSantis reiterated his optimism in Florida's efforts to combat COVID-19, saying the state has flattened the curve and increased hospital and ICU bed space.
"I never did draconian orders here like in other states," DeSantis said."That doesn't work; we've never done that."
DeSantis also spoke about being the leader of one of the first states to work on reopening amid the pandemic.
"You can do both -- you can continue to fight COVID-19 but also get people back to work and have society function again," DeSantis said.
As for wrestling, DeSantis' team said his memo is not specific to WWE, but rather it "provides professional sports organizations the ability to continue operations when they deem appropriate" as long as they stay closed to the public.
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