Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that schools will not re-open in May.

"I'm announcing our K-12 schools will continue with distance learning for the rest of the school year," he said at a news conference.

The governor said keeping schools closed has had social costs to it, but there are "logistical things" and “the last thing you want to do is force everyone” back to school.

DeSantis said he knows Florida families have differing opinions on their children returning to the classroom during this pandemic, but he says because distance learning is going well, it was an easier decision.

"It was just a consultation, there was a sense that we weren't going to do it on May 4," he said.

Charter Communications has temporarily opened its live stream free to the public. You can watch Spectrum News via our live stream on your desktop or laptop without a subscription by visiting our website and clicking “Watch Live” in the upper right. Charter also is temporarily offering free broadband and wifi access for 60 days to teachers and families with K-12 or college students. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. The company also will open more than half a million wifi hotspots across the country.

In a prepared statement, Seminole County Schools said: "We are in support of the Governor’s decision to keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year and continue with our distance learning model to close out the 2019-2020 school year. We believe this is in the best interest of our students, families, and staff as their health/safety throughout the duration of this pandemic is our utmost concern."

Hillsborough County Schools posted on Twitter that it would continue its eLearning plan.

Pinellas County Schools said it is in "full agreement" with the governor's decison. "During the first three weeks of digital learning nearly 98 percent of our students engaged online. We are committed to continuously improve our supports for our staff, students and families with the ultimate goal of reaching 100 percent student participation," the school system said Saturday.

The governor said academically there wouldn't have been much benefit in having students return to the classroom the last few weeks.

DeSantis also said that a task force will be named Monday to help organize the eventual "re-opening" of the state. The task force will come from a variety of industries, small business owners and elected officials, he said.

Saturday evening numbers from the state showed 25,492 coronavirus cases in Florida, with 748 deaths. In the Bay area, Hillsborough County had 943 cases and Pinellas County had 587. In Central Florida, Orange County had 1,180.

@GovRonDeSantis explains his reasoning for extending distance learning for remainder of academic school year. @MyNews13 @BN9 pic.twitter.com/PmtkqUA3AI — Greg Angel (@NewsGuyGreg) April 18, 2020

Also Saturday, DeSantis says 22,000 people from New Orleans and New York had been screened and ordered to quarantine for 14 days since the start of his executive order.

Meanwhile, DeSantis announced he will release the names of each of the nursing homes and assisted living facilities where residents and staff tested positive for COVID-19.

He also said Florida has surpassed 250,000 COVID-19 tests.

DeSantis said he wants to start having private labs provide a response within 24 hours to help ramp up screening testing which will aid in reopening the state.

He did not address Saturday the ongoing issue of unemployment benefits in our state.

Major takeaways from @GovRonDeSantis presser:



1) K-12 schools will NOT be opening this school year

2) In a reversal, Desantis says he will release the names of each of the nursing homes & ALFs where residents and staff test positive for COVID-19.

3) He wants to expand testing — Samantha-Jo Roth (@SamanthaJoRoth) April 18, 2020