Coronavirus ravaged Florida, as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump

[TomCADem]

Source: Washington Post

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As Florida became a global epicenter of the coronavirus, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one meeting this month with his top public health official, Scott Rivkees, according to the governor's schedule. His health department has sidelined scientists, halting briefings last month with disease specialists and telling the experts there was not sufficient personnel from the state to continue participating.

"I never received information about what happened with my ideas or results," said Thomas Hladish, a University of Florida research scientist whose regular calls with the health department ended June 29. "But I did hear the governor say the models were wrong about everything."

DeSantis (R) this month traveled to Miami to hold a roundtable with South Florida mayors, whose region was struggling as a novel coronavirus hot spot. But the Republican mayor of Hialeah was shut out, weeks after saying the governor "hasn't done much" for a city disproportionately affected by the virus.

As the virus spread out of control in Florida, decision-making became increasingly shaped by politics and divorced from scientific evidence, according to interviews with 64 current and former state and administration officials, health administrators, epidemiologists, political operatives and hospital executives. The crisis in Florida, these observers say, has revealed the shortcomings of a response built on shifting metrics, influenced by a small group of advisers and tethered at every stage to the Trump administration, which has no unified plan for addressing the national health emergency but has pushed for states to reopen.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/coronavirus-ravaged-florida-as-ron-desantis-sidelined-scientists-and-followed-trump/2020/07/25/0b8008da-c648-11ea-b037-f9711f89ee46_story.html

[Turbineguy]

1. That's why we elect republicans.

We want to die.

[BigmanPigman]

4. And go bankrupt.

[groundloop]

2. It's simply because we now have more testing.

My trumper relatives have repeatedly claimed that the increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases is simply because of additional testing. I haven't heard their excuses for overflowing hospitals and the increasing number of deaths.

[lark]

6. Thosse are all a hoax, don't you know.

Hospitals are lying to get more money and calling heart attacks CV19,(when actually it is the CV19 that caused the heart failure). It's the migrants, it's ok if a lot of us die (they know it will mainly be the working class, not them) because of "herd immunity", it's ok if grandma and grandpa dies, they will take one for the rich's pocketbooks. These are the stupid things I hear from my sons' roommate. My son needs the place to live so I just gently tell him the truth, like talking about excess deaths and a death rate of close to 4% vs. less than 1% for the flu.

However, even he is glad his party pulled the inperson convention from our city. He has COPD so is very at risk.

[certainot]

3. desantis and trump followed with llimbaugh who managed 1500 radio stations to

yell hoax in a covid theater

if limbaugh had not denied it they could not have

the collusion was aand is right in front - putin> limbaugh> trump > desantis

and 20 of the limbaugh stations in florida depend on 5 universities and the communities around them to ignore they are supporting those kkk stations and using black athletes to sell racism and global warming and covid denial

5 universities helping putin and saudi and fossil fuels industry deny global warming in the first state to get done in by global warming

[Stuart G]

5. Yes, they yelled "hoax" but they lied, and now the lies are clear to all. Come November we will

see who is the liar, and who tells the truth?

[ck4829]

7. Kick