Democrats demand DeSantis explain why Florida isn’t following White House COVID plan

The leader of the House select committee responsible for investigating the government’s coronavirus response is asking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his correspondence with the Trump administration to determine why Florida hasn’t followed the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s recommendations for slowing the spread.

South Carolina Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn sent a letter to DeSantis and Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday after the latest policy guidelines from the task force appear to be more stringent than the current policies in place in most of Florida. The latest federal report was compiled on July 26 but was not made public until Tuesday when the New York Times published it.

“In light of the alarming surge of coronavirus cases and deaths in Florida, I am troubled that the Trump administration would seek to keep public health recommendations secret rather than publicly communicating the importance of these measures to the American people and ensuring they are followed,” Clyburn wrote. “I am writing to request information about the private guidance the administration has provided to Florida and whether you plan to implement those recommendations and take other critical actions to slow the spread of the coronavirus across the state..”

DeSantis’ office defended its actions, noting in a statement that “of course [DeSantis] takes White House Task Force recommendations seriously and appreciates their service.” The office did not commit to providing documents or communications to Congress, which Clyburn asked for by August 12.

DeSantis spokesman Fred Piccolo said while DeSantis believes in hand washing, social distancing and mask wearing when social distancing is not possible, he does not believe in “criminalizing the mask issue nor does he feel it is a good use of law enforcement resources.”

“The governor is acting in the best interests of the citizens of Florida,” Piccolo said.

The task force groups counties in Florida into “red” or “yellow” categories, and considers 49 counties in Florida, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, to be in the “red” zone, meaning the counties reported at least 100 new cases per 100,000 people in the last week and a test positivity rate of at least 10%. An additional 17 counties are in the “yellow” zone, meaning they reported between 10-100 new cases per 100,000 people and a test positivity rate between 5-10%. Public health experts say positivity rates should be below 5% before governments should reopen.

The letter from Clyburn lists five task force recommendations that Florida isn’t following right now.

The task force recommends closing all gyms for counties in the red zone and limiting capacity to 25% for counties in the yellow zone. Gyms in Miami-Dade County are still open. It also recommends limiting indoor dining to 25% capacity. While indoor dining in Miami-Dade County is banned, the state allows most counties to operate restaurants at 50% capacity.

It also recommends limiting social gatherings to 10 or fewer people in red zones and 25 or fewer people in yellow zones. Florida’s recommendations are more lenient, encouraging people to limit gatherings to 50 people or fewer. The White House also recommended mask mandates in all businesses in Florida, but the state does not require the use of masks in all businesses.

And Florida hasn’t imposed a statewide mask order in all public spaces, despite the urging of public health officials and some politicians. The task force recommends mask orders in all counties with rising test positivity rates, which applies to places like the Florida Keys and Jacksonville. Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties have seen little change in their test positivity rates from July 18-24, according to the report, though their rates remain among the highest in the state, and other large counties like Hillsborough have seen a decrease.

“The task force report privately recommended that Florida implement these health measures to help reverse the dangerous spike in cases across the state and to prevent unnecessary deaths,” Clyburn wrote. “Failure to comply is allowing the virus to spread, prolonging and exacerbating the public health crisis facing the state. I urge you to act quickly and mandate science-based public health measures.”

Clyburn leads the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, which was established by Speaker Nancy Pelosi in April to provide congressional oversight of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response. Republicans initially objected to the formation of the special committee but have since appointed lawmakers to the panel. Clyburn’s letter was not signed by any Republicans.

Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith is one of several state and federal lawmakers who have called for a mask rule. The Orlando Democrat sent a formal letter making the request to DeSantis the first week of July.

He said DeSantis is prolonging the disease’s spread in Florida by refusing to do what other leaders have done in requiring counties with rising positivity rates to mandate masks. Smith said the issue has become political.

“It defies logic to not issue a mask mandate when our state is the epicenter of the pandemic in the South, in the U.S. and in the world,” Smith said. “What reason other than politics can he provide? Governor DeSantis is making a nakedly political decision. He is refusing to do what is in the best interest of the health and safety of Floridians, simply to appease Trump and his base of voters. Period.”

On July 17, 12 of Florida’s 13 congressional Democrats sent a similar letter to DeSantis calling for a statewide mask order as local leaders across the state issued mandates of their own.

Clyburn also sent a letter to Pence and Dr. Deborah Birx, the leaders of the White House Task Force, to ask for guidance they provided to states related to the July 26 recommendations. And letters similar to the one sent to DeSantis were also sent to the governors of Oklahoma, Georgia and Tennessee.

“Although the task force has apparently provided private suggestions to state governments, many states have not implemented these recommendations — and instead appear to be following the contradictory public messaging coming from the administration,” Clyburn wrote.

This story was originally published July 29, 2020 at 5:45 PM.