Brevard County

DeSantis touts monoclonal antibody treatment while visiting health department in Viera

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited the Florida Department of Health office in Viera on Wednesday to tout monoclonal antibody treatments.

Read: 9 things to know about COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments

Several Brevard County residents provided testimonials about the treatments during the news conference, but no new sites were announced.

Hear what they said below:

Gov. DeSantis Meets With Recipients of Monoclonal Treatments In Brevard

Governor DeSantis is in Brevard County with individuals that have recovered from COVID-19 after receiving monoclonal antibody treatments.

Posted by Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday, September 1, 2021

In the past two weeks, more than 3,000 people have received an antibody boost at a state-run Regeneron clinic at Kiwanis Park on Merritt Island. Last month, roughly 40,000 people received treatment at state-run clinics last month.

“And now we’re looking at having seen COVID hospital admissions decline by over 20%,” DeSantis said in Viera.

Read: Tropical Storm Larry forms in the Atlantic; expected to become a hurricane later this week

Brevard County is among the Central Florida school districts that have revisited mask mandates.

On Monday, Brevard Public Schools adopted a 30-day mask requirement with a medical exemption.

“I think there have been some local authorities who’ve violated the law and taken the decision-making authority out of the hands of parents,” DeSantis said. “And my view is that the parents are in the best circumstances to understand.”

READ: Brevard School Board votes to reinstate mask mandate

A judge recently blocked the state from banning local school districts from implementing mask mandates, but the judge has yet to sign a written order.

State Rep. Randy Fine said Brevard Public Schools may soon receive its own letter from the Florida Department of Education.

“The difference is, Brevard County broke the law a little later than these other counties, so they’re going in order,” Fine said. “The reason salaries were held in those other two counties (is because) they broke the law a few weeks ago; Brevard just broke it Monday.”

READ: Gunman killed, Brevard County deputy shot in leg during traffic stop near West Melbourne

To learn more about the treatment method, click here or scroll below.

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Jason Kelly

Jason Kelly, WFTV.com

Jason Kelly joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2014. He serves as the station's Digital Executive Producer.