Ron DeathSantis was one of the last governors to shut down the state of Florida at the beginning of the pandemic and he was one of the first to open up to full capacity much to the pleasure of his mentor POTUS Trump. At press conferences The Governor always puts a favorable spin on his handling of the pandemic by picking out obscure facts from the data and ignoring the growing danger as the state is being hit by a wave much bigger that the summer surge. This is known as the blue sky policy. If people are ignorant of the facts they can go about their merry way until they are also infected.
Like the POTUS, his denial of science puts every Floridian in danger since many are encouraged to not wear masks and gather in large groups. He is literally killing his constituents. Though the hope of vaccines are on the horizon, his backwards policies may result in many denying their efficacy. To him politics are more important than human lives.
The Sun Sentinel reported that, the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) county-level spokespeople were ordered in September to stop issuing public statements about COVID-19 until after the Nov. 3 election. Rebekah Jones a former DOH worker had her computer and phone seized by police because she was reporting the daily hard facts about the spread of COVID-19 that don’t mirror the Blue Sky policy. He withheld data about the spread of the virus in schools, prisons, hospitals and only after prolonged legal battles could reporters gain access to those facts. The sunshine law requires certain proceedings of government agencies to be open or available to the public. When it comes to COVID-19 there has been a black out. Any messaging has to go through the Governor and he insists on Blue Sky messaging rather than stating facts. He seems to think he can pack everyone into bars and restaurants at full capacity despite the rising tide, and he can still keep the at risk population safe. The fact is he can’t. Rather than make adjustments to slow down the spread, he seems to want everyone infected. He seems to have embraced the disgraced former POTUS advisor, Scott Atlas’ herd immunity theory which will result in a huge spike in needless deaths. With community spread as wide spread as it is becoming, this will be a very dark winter with very dark sky’s.
Joe Biden state, “Out of our collective pain, we will find our collective purpose: to control the pandemic, to save lives, and to heal as a nation.” Lets hope DeSantis eventually decides to help rather than hinder as COVID sweeps through Florida a second time. Information is power. Stay informed. Stay safe.