Florida’s GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis says protection of the most vulnerable from COVID-19 is better and safer than lockdowns, asserting ''you can’t burn down the village to save it.''
In an interview on Fox News’ ''Life, Liberty and Levin'' to air Sunday, DeSantis boasted his state was fully open — and did it safely.
''You protect those who are the most vulnerable to the disease… rather than suppress society as a whole,'' he said.
DeSantis said the state’s elderly and those in nursing homes are a priority in the pandemic.
''You can’t burn down the village to save it,'' he said.
''One of the things we did in mid-March is to prohibit releasing elderly patients with COVID[-19] to a nursing home,'' he said, explaining the state made sure there was ''a safe place where they could be discharged.''
He added another measure taken was to allow family visits to their relatives in a nursing home. ''The staff performs better when the family comes in,'' he said. ''The human connection is something we understood.''
DeSantis said opening schools for in-person instruction was a priority, asserting the coronavirus was ''less dangerous to school age kids than influenza'' and that children are ''not significant vectors of spreading the disease.''
''Shutting schools gets you almost nothing… but causes catastrophic damage'' to children and families, he said. ''Low income families need their kids in school."
Related Stories:
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.