Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for residents of the southern US state (JOE RAEDLE)

Fort Lauderdale (United States) (AFP) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order on Wednesday for the 21 million residents of the southern US state and rebuffed appeals to allow coronavirus-stricken cruise ships to dock in local ports.

DeSantis, who had resisted calls to follow the lead of other states and force Floridians to remain at home, said the order would be in place for 30 days and would take effect at 12:01 am Friday (0401 GMT).

“Even though there’s a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now,” he said at a press conference.

With nearly 7,000 coronavirus cases and 87 deaths, Florida — which has a large elderly population — has the fifth-most virus cases in the United States.

More than 30 other US states have already issued stay-at-home orders to stop the virus spread and DeSantis had been under growing pressure to do the same in Florida, particularly after images circulated recently of packed state beaches.

The governor’s executive order directs Floridians to “limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities.”

Unlike in some other states, attending religious services was listed as an “essential activity.”

In his executive order, DeSantis, a Republican and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, sought to pin the blame on New Yorkers to some extent for spreading the virus in Florida.

“Many thousands of people fled the New York City region to Florida following New York State issuing a ‘shelter-in-place’ order, thereby jeopardizing the health and safety of Floridians,” his order said.

– Stranded cruise ships –

DeSantis also reiterated his opposition to allowing virus-hit cruise ships to dock in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale port, but said the decision would ultimately be up to the local authorities.

“I obviously am not in control of the port,” the governor said.

“Clearly we’re going to be willing to accept any Floridians,” DeSantis said, but “foreign nationals” would tax the state’s limited medical resources.

He said he had discussed the stranded cruise ships with Trump and “he would like to see a solution.”

DeSantis said the US Coast Guard, local authorities and cruise lines were trying to find a way to resolve the situation and there would be “more developments on that today.”

The operator of two Holland America Line cruise ships, the Zaandam and the Rotterdam, appealed to the US authorities on Monday to allow them to dock, saying four passengers had already died and others were at risk.

“What happened to compassion and help thy neighbor?” Holland America president Orlando Ashford said.

A total of 1,243 passengers and 1,247 crew members are stranded at sea on the Zaandam and the Rotterdam, which came to its aid last week with vital supplies.

About 200 passengers and crew aboard the Zaandam have reported influenza-like illnesses and at least nine have tested positive for COVID-19.

The desperate situation aboard the Zaandam has attracted the most worldwide publicity, but it is just one of several cruise liners seeking permission to dock at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.

The Zaandam is scheduled to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday.

William Burke, chief maritime officer at Carnival Corp., which owns Holland America, outlined a plan to county commissioners on Tuesday that would have healthy passengers disembark and be sent home on charter flights.

Sick passengers would remain aboard until they are well enough to travel, Burke told a meeting of the Broward County Board of Commissioners.

Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said a decision would be made early Thursday on the docking plans.

The Zaandam, which left Buenos Aires on March 7, was originally meant to arrive in Fort Lauderdale on April 7 at the conclusion of a month-long cruise.

After a coronavirus outbreak on board, it was decided to cut the voyage short and the ship passed through the Panama Canal over the weekend and headed for Fort Lauderdale, its home port. 

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.