'Designed to frighten people': DeSantis blows off COVID-19 Delta variant after CDC deems it 'of concern'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is once again downplaying the concerns of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in regard to the novel coronavirus. This time, his remarks are in reference to the Delta variant of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, June 15, the Republican governor was asked about the Delta variant, which the World Health Organization (WHO) deemed a "variant of concern" on May 10. According to the Orlando Sentinel, DeSantis refused to answer questions leveled at him regarding the variant. In fact, the governor appeared to downplay the severity of the variant despite growing concern about it.

According to DeSantis, the warnings are structured in "ways designed to frighten people."

"There's been a lot of talk about variants leading up to this," DeSantis said after the meeting. "I think it gets put out there in ways designed to frighten people."

The critical aspect of the Delta variant centers on the age group mostly being impacted by it. Although DeSantis has repeatedly said that children are not widely impacted by the virus, the spread of the Delta variant is reportedly more prevalent among adolescents and children.

DeSantis did acknowledge that he is aware the state's infection rate could increase substantially over the summer. The governor urged residents to take the vaccination.

"I don't think it's going to go up anywhere like it did last summer because we have so much immunity," DeSantis said, in reference to the uptick in individuals receiving the vaccination. "But the best thing you can do, particularly if you haven't gotten the vaccine, particularly if you have any health problems … is to get a shot."

As of Friday, June 11, the Florida Department of Health confirmed a total of 8,659,077 Floridians had been fully vaccinated. Since there are more than 20 million residents in the state, the figure accounts for a little more than a third of the state's population.