DeSantis Defiantly Says "We're Not Shutting Down" As Florida Hits Record COVID-19 Cases

The Sunshine State will not be shutting down anytime soon. COVID-19 cases in Florida are on the rise throughout the state and have hit back-to-back highs. However, Governor Ron DeSantis says the state is moving forward with its recovery plan.

"We are not shutting down, we are going to go forward," Gov. DeSantis said during his news conference on Tuesday. The briefing addressed the state's continual spike in cases, and he emphasized that Florida can still protect those who are most at risk to the virus without closing.

DeSantis continued to press that the reason for the high number of cases is that the state is conducting more tests than it did at the start of the pandemic. "I think we probably, you know, we're over 30,000 test results a day now, we may end up seeing even more of an increase," he said.

Most of the state has been under phase 2 of the state's recovery plan for nearly two weeks, and within that time, the daily count of novel coronavirus cases has shattered records.

Since June 3, Florida has recorded over 22,000 new COVID-19 cases and currently has 80,109 positive results. While the raw number is high, DeSantis continues to stress that the positive percentage rate remains low.

One state official who has pushed back on the governor's explanation of the record spike has been Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried. Releasing her own statement, Fried alleges that the state doesn't have a handle on the health situation.

"His policies are simply not working," Fried said, further stating that the reopening plan is reckless and accusing DeSantis of "refusing to acknowledge" the pattern in both case count and hospitalization rates.

Local mayors have also grown concerned in the spike of cases, and have set out reminders to residents that the pandemic is not over even though the state is reopening.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said that the city would not go into phase 3 of its recovery plan on Monday.

As of Wednesday, there are no state or local initiatives to roll back the reopening plans.