Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a shot at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a press conference over the weekend, referring to the Empire State leader's proposal for a coronavirus quarantine of visitors.
DeStantis advised Cuomo "not quarantine any Floridians in nursing homes," Fox News reported.
DeSantis was making reference to an earlier policy decision by Cuomo, criticized by the Florida governor, that encouraged nursing homes to admit coronavirus patients, even though the elderly population is particularly vulnerable to the virus and the homes might not have had the proper protocols to handle COVID-19 positive cases.
New York Health Department statistics show more than 6,200 elderly residents might have died from the coronavirus in the state's nursing homes.
"I think governors are going to do what they need to do," DeSantis said, Fox News reported. "I would just ask them if that's done, just please do not quarantine any Floridians in the nursing homes in New York."
The remark came after Cuomo had said New York is considering imposing a two-week quarantine for visitors from outside the state, specifically mentioning Florida.
"You want to talk about a full 180 for those people," Cuomo said. "Florida and other states imposed quarantine on New Yorkers. If you went to Florida, you had to quarantine for two weeks because they were afraid that New Yorkers were bringing the virus to their state," adding "Fast forward 100 days now: We're afraid they're bringing the virus to our state."
In the news conference, DeSantis also talked about his plans to combat a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases in Florida, as well as hospitalizations, by boosting enforcement of social-distancing in public spaces, including bars and nightclubs.