DeSantis: COVID-19 hospitalizations showing 'great movement downward'

Florida is reporting that more than 8,000 people have died of COVID-19.

The state's health department tallied on Friday 180 new deaths from the virus. But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said hospitalizations were showing a "great movement downward" in all parts of the state.

The number of people being treated in state hospitals for the disease has been on the decline for just over two weeks. There were 7,174 patients in the late morning Friday, according to a state census posted online, 175 less than the previous day and down from highs of more than 9,500.

In other development related to the state's response to the pandemic, DeSantis has rescinded an order requiring people traveling from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to the Sunshine State to quarantine or isolate for 14 days.

The order signed by DeSantis and made public Thursday also eliminated detailed requirements for when restaurant employees should be kept from reporting to work because of coronavirus concerns.

DeSantis' latest order rescinded a mandate issued in March that people must quarantine upon arriving in Florida if they had come from the New York area, which at the time was the epicenter of the pandemic.