Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Saturday that all Florida K-12 students will continue their education via distance learning through the end of this school year.

The governor called it an easy decision, since the likelihood of reopening for only a few weeks in May would have offered little academic benefit.

“There were some differing opinions,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Tallahassee. He added there was “pretty good momentum for distance learning” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

DeSantis explained that he understands the social impacts of children not being able to see their friends. He plans to ease some restrictions in the next phase so that “kids will have a little bit more to be able to do,” but he did not provide specifics.

“You had kind of a division among folks whether this was a good idea or not,” he said. “And I think the last thing you want to do is, like, force everyone in school and have half the kids not show up because their parents didn’t want — their teachers didn’t want — to do it.”

Meanwhile, the Florida Department of Health released a list of all nursing homes and assisted living facilities in the state that have had at least one person test positive for COVID-19.

In Palm Beach County, 36 facilities have at least one case.

The Department of Health says there are 25,492 total cases of COVID-19 in Florida as of Saturday evening.

At least 748 Florida residents have died from COVID-19.

Current Positive Cases in Florida

Palm Beach County: 2,138 cases

-114 deaths

-Men: 1,027, Women: 1,045

-357 hospitalizations

Broward County: 3,838 cases

-115 deaths

-Men: 1,931, Women: 1,776

-674 hospitalizations

Miami-Dade County: 9,045 cases

-195 deaths

-Men: 4,607, Women: 4,288

-866 hospitalizations

Testing in Florida:

-Total Tests: 253,183

-Positive: 25,492

-Negative: 225,862