Senator Scott among 9,000 new Covid cases in Florida – but governor says it will never lock down

The GOP Senator from Florida has been quarantining at home all week after coming into contact with someone in Florida last Friday.

(AP)

US Senator Rick Scott of Florida on Friday said that he is among the Sunshine State’s 9,085 new Covid-19 cases, an update that will likely do little to impress Republican Governor Ron DeSantis who has vowed to “never” lockdown the state again.

“After several negative tests, I learnt I was positive for COVID-19 this AM,” Mr Scott tweeted Friday morning. “I’m feeling good & experiencing very mild symptoms. I’ll be working from home until it’s safe for me to return to DC.”

He reminded everyone to practise basic health guidelines like wearing a mask, social distancing, and to quarantine if coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Scott added: “We will beat this together, but we all must be responsible.”

The GOP Senator from Florida has been quarantining at home all week after coming into contact with someone in Florida last Friday. His office said he had “multiple negative rapid tests earlier in the week” but a test he took Tuesday came back positive Friday morning.

Mr Scott is the second US Senator after Iowa’s Chuck Grassley to announce a positive test this week. Eight US Senators – all Republicans – in total have tested positive for Covid-19.

His announcement comes after Florida’s Department of Health on Thursday said the number of known Covid-19 cases in the state has risen by 9,085. In total, Florida has had more than 923,000 cases with some 17,889 deaths as a result of the virus since the outbreak began. Hospitalisations, likewise, have been steadily climbing in recent weeks.

In late August, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said he will ”never” impose another lockdown like the one he implemented in the outbreak’s early days, according to a local outlet. 

“We will never do any of these lockdown again, and I hear people say they’ll shut down the country, and honestly I cringe,” the governor said during a press conference at the Villages retirement community.

As the outbreak reached pandemic proportions, Florida was one of the last states to impose stay-at-home orders and one of the first to lift restrictions. Some restrictions were re-imposed on bars as infections started to surge over the summer, but throughout Mr DeSantis remained one of a handful of governors who declined to impose a statewide mask mandate.