Key Florida official overseeing COVID-19 response resigns

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — One of Florida's top lieutenants in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak resigned Monday, citing the grueling nature of the role — exacerbated by the demands of orchestrating the state's pandemic response — for his decision to leave the key post.

Jared Moskowitz, who led Florida's Division of Emergency Management for the past two years, said he tired of being away from his wife and two children, all of whom remain in Broward County while he spends much of his time more than 400 miles (640 kilometers) away in the state's capital city of Tallahassee.

“My 4-year-old said to me a couple of weeks ago: Daddy works for the governor. I don't want daddy to work for the governor anymore. I want daddy to come home," Moskowitz said. “And when your 4-year-old says that to you, you listen.”

Following the November presidential election, Moskowitz was touted by some Democrats to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Joe Biden — but that prospect was doubtful considering his ties with a Republican governor closely allied with former President Donald Trump.

At the start of the pandemic last year, Moskowitz said, he was away from his family for three months to help lead the response to a catastrophic public health crisis that has so far killed nearly 29,000 in Florida and infected more than 1.8 million Floridians.

“I spent a tremendous amount of time away from them. My family quarantined without me in the beginning of the pandemic without me for months,” Moskowitz said in a telephone interview Monday afternoon, just hours after submitting his resignation to the governor.

At a Monday news conference at the Capitol, Gov. Ron DeSantis thanked Moskowitz for his service.

“He has worked incredibly hard. He's done a...