Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: Positive cases are among younger people

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that many of the Floridians testing positive for COVID-19 are in their 30s and do not show symptoms, so “plenty” of hospital capacity remains.

Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, addressed the pandemic from Miami as his state recorded over 3,800 cases from Thursday, a new single-day high.

The percentage of people testing positive has increased in recent weeks from the low single digits to about 8%, according to online trackers.

Mr. DeSantis rattled off a list of counties where the median age of those testing positive ranges from 29 to 41.

“That is a very consistent trend,” Mr. DeSantis said. “Huge, huge number of people, particularly in that 20-to-40 cohort, who are testing but then testing positive.”

Earlier in the pandemic, he said, younger people who didn’t present signs of the disease wouldn’t have qualified for testing, so that in part explains the surge.

The governor said he’s worried some younger people are getting lax, however, so the health department will remind young people to maintain hygiene and social distancing as the state reopens its economy.

He said predictions of a hospital crisis, however, haven’t been borne out.

“There’s plenty, plenty capacity here in the state of Florida,” Mr. DeSantis said.

Florida is among Sun Belt states seeing a spike as they try to reopen their economies.

Like Mr. DeSantis, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has pointed to young people crowding bars as partly to blame for the uptick in cases in his state.

The White House also said attributed an increase in Oklahoma cases to the younger, healthier cohort in explaining why the Trump campaign felt it was OK to stage an indoor rally on Saturday night.

Still, younger people who carry the disease risk becoming a link in the chain of transmission, prolonging outbreaks.

“It’s important to remember that even if a younger individual gets infected they have the opportunity to spread it to somebody who may end up having a risk factor for severe disease and hospitalization,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “That’s why, as cases occur, it is very important to diagnose them and to tie them to contact-tracing to limit the spread to individuals who may be more vulnerable.

“Most individuals,” he added, “will have some contact with someone that is in a high-risk group.”

Mr. DeSantis did say Florida is trying to trace down the contacts of those who come back positive and test them.

Places that were slammed earlier in the pandemic, including New York and New Jersey, are seeing more favorable trends, adding up to a nationwide picture that is slowly getting better.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus warned the globe not to get complacent, as Beijing locks down parts of its city and cases surge in parts of the Americas, even as Europe tries to reopen after the worst of their outbreaks.

“The world is in a new and dangerous phase,” Mr. Tedros said. “Many people are understandably fed up with being at home. Countries are understandably eager to open up their societies and economies. But the virus is still spreading fast. It is still deadly and most people are still susceptible.”

For his part, President Trump is focused on revamping the U.S. economy and getting life back to normal. He plans to hold a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday — his first since early March.

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, recently told CNN “if there is a second wave, which is certainly a possibility and which would be complicated by the predictable flu season, football may not happen this year,” Dr. Fauci told CNN.

Mr. Trump objected in a Friday tweet.

“Tony Fauci has nothing to do with NFL Football. They are planning a very safe and controlled opening,” Mr. Trump tweeted. “However, if they don’t stand for our National Anthem and our Great American Flag, I won’t be watching!!!”