At around the time New York’s state health department under Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued a directive prohibiting nursing homes from testing recovering coronavirus patients prior to admission, Florida under Gov. Ron DeSantis issued its own executive order strictly regulating incoming patients to protect those facilities from the epidemic.
About a month and a half later, the differences are staggering. The latest tallies show that in Florida 745 residents and staff at long-term care facilities across the state have died from coronavirus although the numbers continue to rise in the state and nationwide. This compared to New York’s 5,300 dead in nursing homes.
AARON KLEIN