‘What we experienced was not inevitable.’ As COVID delta raged in Florida, DeSantis underestimated threat

ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis didn’t anticipate how devastating Florida’s summer COVID-19 surge would be.

The warning signs were there. The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus had produced an explosion of sickness and death in India, a country that had fared surprisingly well during the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared delta to be a “variant of concern” on June 15. DeSantis suggested the threat was exaggerated when asked about delta on that same day, saying, “There has been a lot of talk about variants leading up to this. I think it gets put out there in ways designed to frighten people.”