Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order known as Safer at Home for residents of Broward, Mami Dade, Palm Beach, and Monroe counties.
Residents of these counties should remain in their homes until mid-April.
Originally, during a press conference at Hardrock Stadium, DeSantis said about 60 percent of the COVID-19 cases are in South Florida and it is important that people in this region stay home until mid-May.
But later in the day at a press conference in West Palm Beach, he changed the date to April 15. He believes one reason COVID-19 has become a major problem in South Florida is the fact many New York residents are coming down to South Florida.
Also, the Zaandam, a ship with the bodies of four people who died of COVID-19, and a large number of sick people on board, is now on its way to Port Everglades. DeSantis has said that he does not want this ship to come to Port Everglades.
He believes the medical system in the area has far too many problems in dealing with the coronavirus to be dealing with a larger number of sick people coming from the ship. During a press conference, DeSantis said it would be wrong to “dump” the passengers into South Florida.
Broward County Mayor Dale Holness and Miami Dade County Mayor Carlos Jimenez both attended the event at the Hardrock Stadium. They both spoke and emphasized the importance of staying home.