NYC Enters ‘High’ COVID Level, DeSantis Office Calls City’s Restrictions ‘Absurd’
May 17, 2022 Updated 2:05 P.M. ET
TALLAHASSEE (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office calls New York City’s restrictions “absurd and harmful” after the city recently announced it entered into a “high” COVID alert level.
“People everywhere crave normalcy, so it’s not surprising that so many New Yorkers have moved to Florida over the past two years, but we hope all the lockdown politicians will realize how destructive their policies have been before it’s too late for the city to ever recover,” DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw said.
NYC officials asked residents to use face masks indoors and outside in crowded areas after hitting a certain benchmark of hospitalizations – 10 new admissions per 100,000. The city also requires people provide proof of the COVID-19 vaccine in order to enter businesses.
“As long as Governor DeSantis is in office, Florida will remain free of these absurd and harmful restrictions,” Pushaw said. “The number of New Yorkers fleeing to places like Miami is not sustainable, and it is directly caused by New York state and local politicians refusing to go back to normal.”
Miami locals are facing extraordinarily high rent prices after people flocked to Miami to flee high taxes and red tape in states like New York and California.
Tourism to the Big Apple has dropped significantly over the years. In fact, NYC does not expect to surpass pre-pandemic levels of tourism until 2024.
On the other hand, tourism in Florida is thriving. The Sunshine State has surpassed its pre-pandemic tourism levels for the third consecutive quarter. About 34.1 million domestic visitors traveled to Florida in Q1 2022, representing 12 months of visitation growth from 2019, with no signs of slowing.
“Tourism is booming in Florida, not NYC, because people don’t want to be asked for their medical papers just to get a beer,” Pushaw said. “In Florida, they know that won’t happen. As for masks, it’s a personal choice here and always will be.”
