Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis may be vindicated for his refusal to impose pandemic lockdowns, as well as vaccine and mask mandates, after the Sunshine State posted the lowest number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths per capita in the nation. On Friday, the Sunshine State reported 1,393 new cases of COVID-19, roughly six cases per every 100,000 residents. The state also reported just one death in the past week. By contrast, Michigan leads the nation in daily coronavirus cases per capita - with a 7-day rolling average of 560 per 100,000 residents - despite Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer imposing some of the harshest restrictions in the nation. DeSantis - an early favorite in the 2024 presidential race depending on what Donald Trump does - took a victory lap after the latest figures were announced. 'It just shows once again the success of Governor DeSantis’s science-based and data-based policies,' DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told Fox News Digital. 'He’s always made decisions based on the data and that continued even during the Delta surge this summer what he realized would help was not mask mandates in school or lockdowns but provide treatment that actually works.' Governor DeSantis has engaged in unparalleled legal fights to ban mask and vaccine mandates in the state, sparking condemnation from the media and high-rank health officials for his handling of the pandemic States with least new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 7 days State 7-day case per 100,000 7-day deaths per 100,000 1. Florida 49 0 2. Louisiana 63 1.3 3. Hawaii 70 1.7 4, Georgia 71 1.8 5. Alabama 72 0.7 6. Texas 78 2 7. Mississippi 83 0.5 8. California 92 1.6 9. South Carolina 94 1.9 10. Maryland 99 1 11. North Carolina 110 1.2 12. Oregon 136 5 13. Tennessee 140 2.6 14. Washington 141 1.9 15. Oklahoma 142 3.4 States with most new COVID-19 CASES reported in the last 7 days State 7-day case per 100,000 7-day deaths per 100,000 1. Michigan 560 3 2. Minnesota 524 3.2 3. New Hampshire 509 2.9 4. New Mexico 474 4.1 5. Wisconsin 439 2.3 6. Maine 435 4.5 7. Vermont 386 1.8 8. Colorado 387 1.6 9. Arkansas 381 1.2 10. North Dakota 345 3.9 11. Ohio 336 3.2 12. Pennsylvania 335 4.1 13. New York 332 1.6 14. Utah 332 2.2 15. Indiana 328 3.3 Source: CDC On Friday, Florida reported 1,393 new cases of COVID-19, roughly six cases per every 100,000 residents, the lowest count of COVID-19 new cases and deaths per capita in the nation CDC data shows that Florida reported a seven-day average moving death rate of just one Florida's trend doesn't follow that of the US, with cases already rising in the nation and expected to spike as we enter the winter holiday season under the threat of the new South African 'variant of concern' omicron - which has been deemed as highly mutated and contagious DeSantis has engaged in unparalleled legal fights to ban mask and vaccine mandates in the state, sparking condemnation from the left-leaning media and high-ranking health officials for his handling of the pandemic. In September, DeSantis was branded an 'Angel of Death' in a Vanity Fair article that criticized his measures and blamed him for 'preventing (his) constituents from contacting the virus and dying.' Florida's numbers are bucking the national trend, where cases already rising in the and expected to spike during the holiday season. And that was before the threat posed by the new South African 'variant of concern' Omicron. According to the most-recently released CDC data, the US has seen a spike of more than 90,000 average daily new COVID-19 infections in the last week, and almost 1,000 average daily deaths in the same time frame. The low amount of new COVID-19 cases reported in the Sunshine State follows a spike during the summer. In July, Florida reported more than one-fifth of new COVID-19 cases, and more deaths than any other state in the US, Wink News reported. Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning Joe Biden's private company vaccine mandate from going into effect in Florida Business that violate DeSantis' ban are subject to a $5,000 fine per violation. Leon County was fined $3.5 million for requiring its employees to get COVID-19 vaccines and for firing 14 workers who failed to get the shots. The US is nearing the 780,000 COVID-19 fatalities since the pandemic started His aide pointed to DeSantis's decisive actions for bringing down the numbers 'He opened the 25 state-supported monoclonal antibody sites and provided that treatment all over the state free of charge to over 150,000 Floridians, saved thousands of lives, and that happened starting in August. Since then our cases are down by over 95 percent with no restrictions on people's freedom,' Pushaw said. DeSantis has led a relentless fight against judges to make COVID-19 mandates illegal and has repeatedly appealed court rulings and withheld money from school districts that continue to enforce masks. Eight school districts have been subjected to potential funding cuts because they allowed parents to decide whether the students wear masks or not. On November 18, DeSantis signed a bill banning President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate from going into effect at an event in the city of Brandon, Florida. Florida's trend doesn't follow that of the US, with cases already rising in the nation Businesses that violate DeSantis's ban are subject to a $5,000 fine per violation. Leon County was fined $3.5 million for requiring its employees to get COVID-19 vaccines and for firing 14 workers who failed to get the shots. 'There's times you need to stand up and make your voices heard,' DeSantis said at the event where he said the Florida legislature worked 'quickly' to ban the president's new rule. Biden's executive order requires companies with 100 or more employees to obtain proof of vaccination from their workers or subject them to weekly testing and masking. 'Nobody in Florida should be losing their job over these jabs,' the governor lamented to a few scattered cheers. 'We want people to be able to work, we want people to be able to provide for their families, we want people to be able to have livelihoods.' The US is nearing 780,000 COVID-19 fatalities since the pandemic started, while the confirmed current COVID-19 cases are more than 48 million. The confirmed current COVID-19 cases are more than 48 million COVID-19 deaths have started to decrease in the Sunshine state but they remain steady in the US All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility