Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he "would not hesitate" sending his own kids to school when the academic year begins. All of his three children are below the age of four and not of school age.
"Educating our kids is absolutely essential, we have put them to the back of the line," he said at a news conference this afternoon in Jacksonville.
When asked about safety precautions for the Republican National Convention, DeSantis supported hosting the convention in an outdoor space, citing safety for all of those in attendance. DeSantis said no plan had officially been submitted to host the convention in an outdoor space.
On the state of Covid: DeSantis said staffing was proving to be an issue statewide. He alluded to seasonal shortages as part of the reason. Hundreds of contract nurses are expected to be deployed statewide in addition to 100 additional nurses being sent to the Tampa area as well as another 100 nurses to Miami-Dade.
The governor announced antibody testing in Jacksonville is available for the general public. DeSantis said the state is moving forward contracting with self-swabbing vendors to expedite the test results. Currently, testing results are taking longer than 48 hours.