Sen. Rick Scott to release from quarantine: 'This is up to us'

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WEAR) — Senator Rick Scott wraps up his quarantine Monday night and says he’ll be back in the senate on Tuesday. He says the key right now is stop any further spread of COVID-19.

Scott said on a phone call with Channel 3 that in order to achieve that it will take unwavering commitment from each and every citizen.

He says we need to follow social distancing recommendations and take this threat seriously.

Senator Scott also says he would like to see air travel grounded for the time being and supports relief for small businesses and employees who are economically impacted by the coronavirus. He doesn’t want to see tax payer dollars going to bail out large businesses.

Scott says those affected should get a 60 day break from paying car, home and rent payments but before any of that financial support he says the spread of the virus needs to stop.

We can get past this. This is up to us. The coronavirus won’t spread except for us. So, if we're not around people with coronavirus, all of us social distance, all of us stop going out, we stop having people go across our borders, we stop air travel. If you get it or are around somebody who has it like what happened to me, if you quarantine this will go away and we'll get back to normal.

Channel 3 asked Senator Scott about his thoughts on the almost two trillion dollars stimulus package shot down in the senate over the weekend.

Scott wouldn’t answer the question directly but he says he wants relief to go to everyday Americans impacted, not large corporations.

Scott adds this is an important time for Republicans and Democrats to work together but he feels some people, and he didn’t specify who, are playing political games right now at the expense of citizens who are in need.

Scott says what he wants to do most after quarantine is to see his wife, children and grandchildren again but that’s not something he believes will happen for at least another 30 days. With that, he sympathizes with the many people going through the same thing right now.