Florida's Ron DeSantis wages war on the CDC

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is not pleased with the extended "no sail" order the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has in place to prevent cruise ships from resuming with itineraries.

During a roundtable discussion on Friday, March 26, DeSantis and other officials discussed how the absence of travel and tourism has affected Florida's economy.

Now, with the CDC's latest order, which suspends cruises from now until November of this year, Florida and the cruise industry stand to suffer another year of financial hits. DeSantis criticized the CDC describing the order as "baseless," according to The Hill.

He also called on the public health agency to re-evaluate their decision. "The cruise industry is essential to our state's economy and keeping it shut down until November would be devastating to the men and women who rely on the cruise lines to provide for themselves and their families," the Florida governor said.

He added, "I urge the CDC to immediately rescind this baseless no-sail order to allow Floridians in this industry to get back to work."

DeSantis also highlighted the financial losses the cruise industry has faced as a result of the pandemic. In addition to the financial decline, Florida may also be shelling out funds to compensate those still unemployed. According to Click Orlando, approximately 80% of the cruise industry remains unemployed.

"If you look here at Port Canaveral, the second-leading cruise port behind Port Miami, it has reported an estimated loss of $86.7 million over the course of the pandemic. And again, there's really not much they could have done about it, given what's going on," DeSantis said.

In wake of the latest debates about the CDC's extended order, DeSantis is now facing backlash online. Many Twitter users have accused the Republican governor of having no regard for public health. Some have even challenged him to be the first to board a cruise ship.

"My fellow Floridians the bottom line is we're dying from Governor DeSantis keeping our state open spring break super spreader lost control of Miami now is this other thing let's do whatever Governor DeSantis one switch with the cruise ships come doc here with the super spreader," one Twitter user wrote.

Another person tweeted, "Mr. Governor DeSantis there is nothing wrong with closing down this Cruise the cruise ships people get sick in their stranded at Sea take responsibility for the open State of Florida and thousands of Floridians dying in a super spreader of spring break take responsibility governor."

Cruise Lines International Association has requested that the CDC reconsider its order, which is set to expire on Nov. 1, 2021. Now, the agency has indicated that it will be revising the latest guidelines for cruises.

"Returning to passenger cruising is a phased approach to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. Details for the next phase of the CSO are currently under interagency review," the agency told Fox News.