Most students across Florida will head back to the classroom today – although they’ll do so virtually. Distance learning is the new normal for a while, and Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and Chancellor Eric Hall say the foundation is set for virtual educational success. (More on this below.)
 
Governor Ron DeSantis , Surgeon General Scott Rivkees and I will speak with 3,000 Florida business leaders today at 2:00 p.m. EST on the Florida Chamber’s statewide COVID-19 conference call. Thank you for all the questions you submitted for our call, and I’m looking forward to hearing Governor DeSantis and General Rivkees answer many of them. If you miss the opportunity to join today’s call, don’t worry, we’ll recap it for you in tomorrow morning’s daily update.
 
Florida now has 4,950 positive cases, that’s an increase of 912 since yesterday. We’ve had 60 deaths, and two additional counties (Glades and Wakulla) reported their first positive cases yesterday, bringing the total number of counties with positive cases to 52. Yesterday, (thank you Mark Delegal for keeping us on our toes with this) Florida tested more than 7,457 Floridians, and has tested 50,528 in total. Governor DeSantis continues to beat the drum that we need more testing (which means more supplies for testing from a globally drained and strained supply chain).
 
In these unprecedented times, following the doctor’s orders is more important than ever to help flatten the curve. As Florida Chamber Chair Charles Caulkins wrote in a South Florida Sun Sentinel column, Floridians should heed the expert advice of Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees . Doing so will keep millions of Floridians safe while allowing essential workers to continue in their vital roles to ensure we’re getting first responder vehicles maintained, personal protection equipment produced and delivered to front line health care workers, crops to the grocery store and more. I encourage you to read it here and please share it with others. As I reported days ago, New York’s Governor went to a statewide shelter in place weeks ago, and he recently said it likely wasn’t the right move to close down the entire state. From day one, we’ve been recommending we follow the facts and not the fear. We will clearly see a big jump in cases in the coming weeks and this isn’t going away anytime soon, which is why Florida’s approach is the right one. 
 
Expect this week to be more challenging as we anticipate the number of positive COVID-19 cases to significantly increase, and we expect an even stronger wave of unemployment numbers. And while your Florida Chamber team is working remotely, we’re fully engaged and our team has a plan in place to restart Florida’s economy after we emerge from this pandemic.
 
As I mentioned above, many of you are likely working remotely today while your children are taking their classes online. Because of Florida’s innovations in distance learning, there should be minimal disruptions in student’s education. I encourage you to learn more by watching Chancellor Eric Hall in this Florida Chamber Foundation COVID-19 Education Update .
 
Florida Chamber members, and the ways they are giving back, are reminding all of us of the power of free enterprise – you are awesome! Remember, our frontline healthcare workers still need N95 masks. From donating masks through the Florida Chamber’s make-shift emergency call center, to making hand sanitizer and more, see all the great things your fellow Florida Chamber members are doing  as we all fight the impact of this pandemic together. Please contact Tanya Bechtold at [email protected] or 850-521-1218 in our COVID-19 Call Center if you have the ability to manufacture swabs and/or masks, procure them and/or donate them. Very special thanks to Tallahassee Chamber President, Sue Dick , for reaching out to me Sunday to connect our call center with a local manufacturer who can quickly supply N95 masks…free enterprise in action! 
 
My team and I are in constant contact with business and government leaders and what I continue seeing from our free enterprise system is nothing short of amazing. If there’s information I’m not providing in this daily email, simply let me know and we’ll make every effort to get you what you need in our collective time of need. Share this with others and ask them to sign-up to receive a copy.


My Best,

Mark Wilson
President and CEO