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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. (WSVN) - Gov. Ron DeSantis said he does not think it is “advisable” to lockdown Florida as the state works to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

DeSantis made the announcement during a Monday afternoon press conference.

“Some people have said, ‘We’ve just seen New York, they’ve issued a shelter-in-place for the entire state. Shouldn’t Florida do that?’ DeSantis said. “I think, given our circumstances, that would not be advisable.”

DeSantis said ordering people to shelter-in-place is consigning, possibly, hundreds of thousands of people to lose their jobs and throwing their lives into potential disarray.

“If you look at Florida’s situation right now, this is not a virus that’s impacting every corner of the state,” DeSantis said. “We have 20 counties that have zero cases at all, and 25 counties that really have only a few cases.”

The governor did note the outbreaks in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. However, he added that those situations are much different than the instances of the cases in other counties.

DeSantis also added that there would be a lot of non-compliance regardless, and a water balloon effect where people given the order to shelter-in-place would go elsewhere.

“In New York City, for example, when they issued the shelter-in-place order in New York State, people started leaving, they started going to other states, and actually, many of them have been taking flights to Florida,” he said.

Please check back on WSVN.com and 7News for more details on this developing story.

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