Florida's Ron DeSantis went completely MIA during an unprecedented surge of COVID-19 cases in his state-- but finally Governor "DeathSentence" held a press conference in Fort Lauderdale. He spent much of his time (as did his anti-science surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo) dismissing the usefulness of COVID-19 vaccines, downplaying the severity of symptoms of the omicron variant, and whining and complaining about how the federal government isn’t giving him the monoclonal treatment medicines.
Miami-Dade had officially hit a 25% positivity rate, meaning one in four tests has returned positive in the last week. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who oversees the largest in the state, ripped into DeSantis Tuesday, demanding to know where the governor was and why he wasn’t offering any help.“Our residents, all Florida residents, should be outraged, and they should ask the question, ‘Where is our state? Where is our governor? Where is Ron DeSantis now?’ When is the last time you saw the governor do a press briefing on COVID-19?”
DeSantis continues to advocate for Regeneron (monoclonal antibody treatments) versus vaccinations, masks, social distancing, and virtual gatherings as prevention or as a way of minimizing illness. He repeatedly said he would open more sites to offer treatment, but only based on what the state would be provided by the federal government. It is already well documented that Governor DeathSentence touts Regeneron (at the expense of prevention) as pay-back to a top political donor who has invested millions of dollars in the treatment.
DeSantis went on to make light of the COVID-19 cases, and again blamed the federal government for the lack of home tests, but took no responsibility for the lack of testing centers across the state. He also continues to avoid the basic fact that the cheapest and best way to avoid COVID cases and deaths is vaccines and boosters. According to a new study done in the U.K., COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of hospitalization from omicron across the board, and a booster dose provides the highest level of protection.
Surgeon General Ladapo admitted that hospitalizations weren’t nearly as high as case numbers in the state (which is likely due to vaccines and boosters) but bizarrely continued to focus on the federal government's rationing of treatment medications. There was no talk about Florida's efforts to buy and distribute its own treatment regimens. Ladapo spoke extensively about treatments but refused to discuss using masks or getting vaccines.
The fact is that federal data shows that Florida hospitals already have nearly 10,000 doses of Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody treatment on hand, and about 4,000 doses of Eli Lilly’s treatment. However, according to the Tampa Bay Times, those therapies have not proven to be effective against the omicron variant of the virus.
DeSantis finished the press conference declaring that Florida schools would not close and should not have mitigation efforts to prevent the spread of the virus. He railed against masks, saying “I think [people] have a right to breathe.” How fucking stupid can you be?
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