Florida governor falsely claims coronavirus ‘doesn’t seem to threaten kids’ and hasn’t killed anyone under 25

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis(Al Diaz/AP)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is falsely claiming that no one under 25 has died of coronavirus in the U.S.

“I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25,” the governor said at an educators’ meeting about distance learning Thursday while discussing when Florida schools could reopen, CNN reports. “For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids.”

He went on to claim the state loses “between five and 10 kids a year for the flu" and though there’s “no doubt” that coronavirus, which causes the potentially lethal illness COVID-19, is “much more dangerous if you’re 65 and plus than the flu, if you’re younger it just hasn’t had an impact.”

“So that should factor into how we’re viewing this,” said DeSantis. “I think the data on that has been 100% consistent. I’ve not seen any deviation on that.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would disagree.

Its database says that in the U.S. at least five people under 25 years old have died of the virus, with one between the ages of one and four years old, and the remaining four aged 15 to 24.

Though the virus’ wrath against younger people is still up in the air, people of all ages can transmit the disease to those most vulnerable, namely the elderly and those with compromised immune systems or preexisting conditions.

In Florida though, which has seen over 16,000 confirmed cases, no one under 25 has been reported as a casualty of the virus.