Ron DeSantis. | AP Photo/John Raoux Florida expands quarantine to visitors from Louisiana

TALLAHASSEE — Florida will set up road checkpoints along the Panhandle border to direct motorists who have been to Louisiana to quarantine, escalating efforts by Gov. Ron DeSantis to keep visitors from coronavirus "hot spots" from spreading the disease in his state.

The Florida Highway Patrol will install checkpoints on roadways crossing the Alabama state line. Visitors from Louisiana will be told to isolate for 14 days and will be required to tell troopers where they plan to stay. That information will be relayed to local authorities.


“All we’re trying to do is keep our residents here safe," DeSantis told reporters Friday. “If they’re telling you to shelter in place, then do that. But don’t come here, because we’re trying to protect our folks.”

As state leaders adopt a patchwork of defenses to battle the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would issue guidance for a targeted county-by-county approach. At least two other states, including Texas and Rhode island, this week followed Florida's lead to discourage visitors and isolate travelers from places where the virus is spreading rapidly.

Trump praised Florida's move Friday.

"We’re being very strong on people not leaving, especially certain states, and going to other states where they have less of a problem. You’re hearing constantly about people leaving New York and going down to Florida. And New York obviously is a hot spot," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The motorist restrictions expand on an executive order DeSantis signed Monday that requires visitors from the greater New York area to quarantine for two weeks. About 3,400 people have been screened under the original order so far, DeSantis told reporters.

New Orleans is about 200 miles west of Pensacola, which sits near the Alabama state line. The two states are separated mostly by the Perdido River, which can be crossed by Interstate 10, U.S. Route 90, and Old Pensacola Road.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he understood why other governors might impose restrictions on people coming from his state given the rapid surge in cases.

“I am encouraging people from Louisiana to stay home,” Edwards told reporters Friday. “I think that it should be a small number of people who are on the road going into Texas or going into Florida. I got my hands full here with responding to this crisis and I’m not going to second guess or criticize what other governors are doing or not doing.”

DeSantis said the new checkpoints would be placed on major thoroughfares. The road checkpoints won't apply to commercial traffic, DeSantis said.

“It's whatever would be the main thoroughfares to come in from other parts of the Gulf Coast,” he said.

The governor also ordered vacation rentals to shut down for the next two weeks to discourage visitors arriving from hot spots such as New York and New Orleans.

Airbnb spokesperson Sam Randall said his company has not yet seen the DeSantis order.

At least 34 people in Florida have died from the virus and 2,765 have tested positive, according to data from the state Department of Health.

Roughly half of people in Florida who tested positive for the virus are in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, prompting DeSantis to crack down on people traveling to those areas from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. In New York City, 25,573 people have tested positive, according to a Friday report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Louisiana has reported 2,746 people who tested positive for the virus; 1,170 of them are in greater New Orleans, according to a Louisiana Department of Health website.

Gary Fineout contributed to this report.