TAMPA, Fla. - Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was criticized for not quickly closing his state down - and allowing spring breakers to party on beaches - as the novel coronavirus spread. Neighboring Alabama insisted that it did not face the same threat from the virus as other places did, as did Mississippi, whose governor insisted his state was "never going to be China."

WASHINGTON - The White House released new guidance late Thursday afternoon for states to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, leaving the decisions up to governors to make on a statewide or county-by-county level.