DeSantis Reveals Key Early Decisions That Led To Florida Approaching Pandemic Differently From New York

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) told Fox News on Monday night that his decision to question the COVID-19 hospital bed projections in March led to his state taking a completely different approach to responding to the pandemic than New York.

“Governor Cuomo says that what looks like a fatal error caused by bad judgment putting COVID positive seniors back in nursing homes, your outrage about that, mine, America’s, is really just disinformation and conspiracy theory,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said. “What kind of explanation is that would you say?”

“Well, look, Tucker, we in Florida, we had the exact opposite order, we said you can’t, a hospital, send a COVID positive nursing home resident back into the nursing home because that is the most vulnerable population and you obviously would put them in in serious risk,” DeSantis said. “But we also did after the first few weeks, we established COVID-only nursing units. So, if you had somebody test positive in a nursing home, they could be safely transferred and isolated, recover, then go back so that the other residents were protected. So we really view that as the tip of the sphere when you’re dealing with COVID because the fact of the matter is, it’s not killing a lot of 18 year olds, it is tending to kill people who are very elderly, and very, very ill.”

“Around mid to late March, we were all given models, saying you’re not gonna have any hospital beds in five days, every governor got those models,” DeSantis later continued. “I questioned the assumptions under those models. I didn’t think that they were valid. And I said, I’m not going to construct our policy around that. But even if I was wrong, I would build more beds somewhere rather than throw these elderly people back into the fire of a nursing home where they could contaminate and infect a lot of other people. So it was just an important judgment that we were all called upon to make. And I think Florida did it right. And I think obviously other states took a different tact.”

WATCH:

TRANSCRIPT:

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: [W]e’re going to bring you back to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in just a second, but before we do we want to give you a recap of what the governor of New York said earlier today about the scandal engulfing his administration. Listen.

[START VIDEO]

REPORTER: Are you really saying that this is sort of the creation of a toxic political environment that’s existed for several years in this country and in this state?

ANDREW CUOMO, GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Look, is the environment toxic politically? Yes. Was this happening last year with this toxic political environment? Yes. And do I think that’s part of the conspiracy theories that fill the void? Yes. And, look, I understand politics.

[END VIDEO]

CARLSON: Governor Ron DeSantis joins us again. Governor, I’m sorry about the technical problems. Thanks for coming back. …

RON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: I think big tech is striking back against me. [Laughter].

CARLSON: [Laughter] Maybe. But Governor Cuomo says that what looks like a fatal error caused by bad judgment putting COVID positive seniors back in nursing homes, your outrage about that, mine, America’s, is really just disinformation and conspiracy theory. What kind of explanation is that would you say?

DESANTIS: Well, look, Tucker, we in Florida, we had the exact opposite order, we said you can’t, a hospital, send a COVID positive nursing home resident back into the nursing home because that is the most vulnerable population and you obviously would put them in in serious risk. But we also did after the first few weeks, we established COVID-only nursing units. So, if you had somebody test positive in a nursing home, they could be safely transferred and isolated, recover, then go back so that the other residents were protected. So we really view that as the tip of the sphere when you’re dealing with COVID because the fact of the matter is, it’s not killing a lot of 18 year olds, it is tending to kill people who are very elderly, and very, very ill.

CARLSON: It’ll be fascinating. And this is another show, but to find out why they did that, because everything you said, is rooted in the science, but also in common sense. …

DESANTIS: Well, you want to know why Tucker?

CARLSON: Yeah, I do want to know why, actually.

DESANTIS: Around mid to late March, we were all given models, saying you’re not gonna have any hospital beds in five days, every governor got those models. I questioned the assumptions under those models. I didn’t think that they were valid. And I said, I’m not going to construct our policy around that. But even if I was wrong, I would build more beds somewhere rather than throw these elderly people back into the fire of a nursing home where they could contaminate and infect a lot of other people. So it was just an important judgment that we were all called upon to make. And I think Florida did it right. And I think obviously other states took a different tact.

CARLSON: Yeah, well, the ones who survived are in Florida now. Governor, great to see you. Thank you.

DESANTIS: Thank you.

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