With a large unvaccinated population and the Delta variant on the rise, Florida is facing its worst surge of Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began last year. Gov. DeSantis and Republican state lawmakers are standing in the way of life-saving safety precautions, like vaccine and mask mandates, that could help slow the spike in cases and protect the health and lives of Floridians. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement:
“Florida is facing the worst COVID outbreak since the beginning of the pandemic all because Ron DeSantis continues to reject common sense measures to slow the spread of the virus. Time and again, DeSantis attacks public health experts, fuels reckless conspiracy theories, and denies the science. The governor should be focused on supporting Florida’s overwhelmed hospitals and getting kids back to school safely, but his loyalty to Fox News and former President Trump remain his top priority. If DeSantis wants to put an end to this crisis, he must quit his political games.”
Covid Surging In Florida
Florida Averaging Over 20,000 Cases Per Day. On August 13, 2021, Florida set a new record for daily Covid-19 cases at 49,745 and a seven day average of 21,706. On Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 90 percent of ICU beds were full and 15,449 new admissions were made into Florida hospitals with only 230 of 261 hospitals reporting. Some Florida hospitals have stopped performing elective surgeries due to the surge.
300 Ventilators Sent By Federal Government To Florida. The Department of Health and Human Services and Strategic National Stockpile confirmed 200 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal cannula kits were sent to Florida early in the week of August 8-14, 2021. The Florida Department of Health Communications Director, Weesam Khoury, confirmed the request for the ventilators and confirmed the state did not have an equipment shortage. DeSantis told a local ABC News affiliate that he did not know Florida requested more ventilators. “I would honestly doubt that that’s true, but I’ll look. We have a lot of stuff that we stockpiled over the last year and a half through the department of emergency management. I have not had any requests across my desk. I haven’t been notified of that,” DeSantis said.
Vaccination Rates In Florida
Half Of Floridians Are Unvaccinated And Remain Vulnerable To Infection. As of August 16, 2021, 50 percent of the population in Florida is fully vaccinated and 60 percent have at least one shot. Over half of fully vaccinated Floridians are white, while communities of color only make up 18 percent of the vaccinated population. Older Floridians between the ages of 65 and 74 are the highest fully vaccinated age group with nearly 80 percent being inoculated.
Governor DeSantis Is Putting Floridians In Harm’s Way
Republican State Lawmakers And DeSantis Ban Vaccine Passports. Gov. DeSantis signed Senate Bill 2006 into law in early May 2021 to ban vaccine passports and “government overreach.” This limits when the state and local governments can call for an emergency order and allows the Governor of Florida to invalidate a local emergency order if it unnecessarily restricts the rights or liberties of individuals. This law and Executive Orders 21-101 and 21-102 ended local emergency orders. On June 27, 2021, DeSantis did not renew the state’s emergency order.
DeSantis’ Failed Attempt To Block Cruise Ships Requiring Proof Of Vaccination. A U.S. judge agreed with a Norwegian Cruise Line challenge on DeSantis’ vaccine passport ban saying that the ban “jeopardizes public health and is an unconstitutional infringement” on the cruise liner’s rights. After shutting down in March 2020 from the CDC’s “no sail order,” Norwegian promised a 95 percent vaccination rate for passengers to resume its cruises on August 15, 2021.
DeSantis Bans Mask Mandates In Schools. On July 30, 2021, Gov. DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-075 to ban mask mandates in schools and allow parents the right to decide if their children wear masks. After facing backlash from school districts with mask mandates already in place, DeSantis threatened to withhold salaries of superintendents and school boards disregarding his executive order. Later on August 12, 2021, DeSantis backed down from that threat – legally, he can’t take away school officials’ salaries – and is now considering “hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines” to school districts that intentionally defy the order.
DeSantis Facing Lawsuits For Denying Access To Safe And Healthy Schools. A lawsuit filed August 6, 2021 challenges DeSantis’ executive order on the basis that banning masks denies students access to safe and healthy schools. Many of the parents in the group that filed the suit have children who are immunocompromised or have pre-existing conditions. With the recent spread of the Delta variant, a record high of over 1,900 children have been hospitalized with Covid-19 as of August 14, 2021. A fifth of current Covid-19 hospitalizations in the United States are located in Florida. Since children under 12 years old still aren’t eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine, DeSantis’ mask ban and the Delta variant surge is particularly worrisome for parents of school aged children.