Gov. Ron DeSantis Asserts Parts Of State 'On The Other Side' Of Coronavirus Outbreak

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP/NF) — At a press conference at Orlando Health on Sunday, Gov. Ron DeSantis asserted that parts of Florida are "on the other side" of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The governor again said that the "hysteria" in the early weeks of the outbreak has not materialized in Florida, despite dire predictions that speculated many more deaths than the 1,000 the state has thus far recorded.

He mentioned Central Florida as one of the regions that have now come "on the other side."

WATCH: Gov. Ron DeSantis Coronavirus Briefing At Orlando Health

As of Sunday, the state had more than 31,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

DeSantis, however, said reopening the state would be done methodically and said he would be reviewing recommendations from a task force he convened to guide him in his decision.

"Even if you could flip the switch, if people don't have confidence, then the economy is not just going to take off. It's not the way it works," DeSantis said.

"Elective procedures, I think when people hear that, they think it's like, 'Oh, you know I'm going to get like, some type of cosmetic surgery or something.' These elective procedures really do affect patients' health. You're talking about screenings, you're talking about things that are really important," DeSantis said Saturday during the Cleveland Clinic appearance. "I understand why this was done (postponing procedures) because we didn't know what was coming down the pike, but the fact that we have availability and can accommodate it, I think we do need to move in that direction."

DeSantis on March 20 issued an executive order directing hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, office surgery centers, dental offices and other health-care providers to cease performing elective services. Citing a federal recommendation, the emergency order said "examples of procedures to delay may include, but are not limited to, some endoscopy, most cataract and lens surgeries, non-urgent spine and orthopedic procedures, and cosmetic procedures."

The executive order stemmed from a push to conserve medical supplies, including personal-protective equipment, as hospitals and health-care workers prepared for a surge in patients with COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

The executive order is slated to last through May 8, but hospital and physician organizations last week sent letters to DeSantis seeking to scale back the restrictions on procedures. The letters came as a DeSantis-created task force worked on recommendations about reopening various industries, including health care. DeSantis is expected to release plans during the coming week.

"As we ease some of these restrictions, the health system is overwhelmingly prepared with equipment, beds, staffing. So I am 100 percent confident that we can handle patients that we've put off and I'll use the term loosely 'elective' surgeries," physician Sunil Desai, a senior vice president of Orlando Health who has served on a working group that is part of DeSantis' task force, said Sunday. "The one caveat I want to say, and this is a little pet peeve of mine about elective, it's elective when you set up the time. That's the only thing that makes it elective. To that patient or that family, it is not elective. It was something that was prepared for."

During DeSantis' weekend appearances, doctors also said patients have put off seeking treatment for emergency care, which can lead to complications later. Physician George Ralls, vice president of quality and clinical transformation for Orlando Health, said officials are concerned about an upcoming "surge of unmet medical needs."

"There are many cases that we have seen come into the emergency departments that were much, much worse than they would have been had they come in a few days before," Ralls said. "We've had patients who ignored chest pain for days and came in in cardiac arrest. We've had patients who ignored seizures and came in with much more severe situations."

Physician Carla McWilliams, an infectious disease specialist at Cleveland Clinic, said hospitals have taken precautions to protect patients with other conditions from being exposed to COVID-19.

"We're very, very concerned about patients that have other conditions not coming in to seek care and the potential downstream consequences of that," she said Saturday. "And just to reassure the general public, our hospital, along with every other hospital, has gone to great lengths to create what we call cohort units. And what that means is all patients with COVID are put in a particular area of the hospital with dedicated staff. We have environmental cleaning done on a very consistent basis that essentially excludes or removes any risk to any of the other patients who may be on other floors or in other areas."

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(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.)