'Where are you now?' Florida mayor asks DeSantis amid COVID surge

[riversedge]

Source: www.local10news.com



Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings says all Floridians should be outraged by the governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The head of one of Florida’s largest counties is calling out Gov. Ron DeSantis for his overall handling of the coronavirus pandemic as the omicron variant spreads across the state.

“He signed into law legislation that effectively prohibited local governments from being able to take charge and lead in our fight against COVID-19,” Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said earlier this week. “Our residents, Florida residents, should be outraged and ask, ‘Where are you now?’”

His comments come as Florida reported nearly 47,000 new cases to the CDC Wednesday -- a new single-day record of cases.

And, here at home, Miami-Dade announced they have officially hit a 25 percent positivity rate, meaning one in every four tests given in the last seven days has come back positive for COVID-19.

As part of efforts to shorten wait times for the crush of people trying to get tested, Miami-Dade has increased testing hours at Zoo Miami, the South Dade Government Center, Tropical Park and Aventura Mall.

Read more: https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/12/30/where-are-you-now-florida-mayor-asks-desantis-amid-covid-surge/

---

DeSantis press sec. issued a memo a few hours ago saying DeSantis is on vacation [but missing for 13 days now].
Vacation?? Where??
Much speculation he has Covid. Time will tell the truth.

Link to tweet

?s=20

Link to tweet

?s=20

[sarcasmo]

1. On a ventilator.

[dchill]

2. Stop it! You had me going for a second, there!

[housecat]

25. please oh please

[Historic NY]

3. Well he is not at Bagelicious Deli & Bakery in Ocala.

According to his twitter feed, Their Facebook shows he was there on the 17th

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. Probably in Cancun

with Rafaelito Cruz.

[vanlassie]

5. You KNOW he's vaxxed to the max.

[IronLionZion]

14. But many of his voters aren't

and they think masks take away their freedoms so there may be fewer of them around next November to reelect him.

[vanlassie]

28. Yep. I'm saying he is more likely to be in Cancun than in hospital.

The asshole.

[NoMoreRepugs]

6. Hopefully getting a brain transplant.

[Jilly_in_VA]

12. Not a candidate

There has to be something to attach it to. He got nothing.

[MyOwnPeace]

13. I believe the correct term would be 'implant' - not transplant.

To 'transplant' a brain would mean that there was a brain there to begin with..... :

Is implant the same as transplant?

An implant is a medical device manufactured to replace a missing biological structure, support a damaged biological structure, or enhance an existing biological structure. Medical implants are man-made devices, in contrast to a transplant, which is a transplanted biomedical tissue.

[chowder66]

19. lol!

[riversedge]

7. Meanwhile, while DeSantis is MIA: Broward County to give out at-home COVID test kits starting Thur

@CBSMiami

5h
Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says all adults entering schools will have to wear masks as will bus drivers beginning Monday. Masks are not required but strongly urged for students.
Watch: https://miami.cbslocal.com/live/

Link to tweet

?s=20




Broward County to give out at-home COVID test kits starting Thursday at library locations


https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/12/30/broward-county-to-give-out-at-home-covid-test-kits-starting-thursday-at-library-locations/
Broward County will distribute at-home test kits
Broward County will distribute at-home test kits

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward County will begin distributing what officials say are a limited supply of COVID-19 at-home rapid test kits to residents, while supplies last. The distribution will start Thursday, Dec. 30 and continue Friday, Dec. 31, from drive-through, curbside service lanes outside of nine county libraries.

Proof of Broward County residency is required and two kits per household will be given until supplies run out, according to officials. The locations are.

[dalton99a]

8. Hope he got a hefty dose of the good stuff

[riversedge]

9. Spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis---statement here...............

@blaireerskine
·
1h
Spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis

Link to tweet

?s=20

[IronLionZion]

15. God's waiting room

he definitely lifts people up ... to heaven

[BigmanPigman]

24. My my, isn't she professional.

[hay rick]

29. Disclaimer: professional comedienne. nt

[SoCalDavidS]

10. Not A Care In The World

He knows that he’s gonna be re-elected in November, regardless of how many have died under his watch.

[cinematicdiversions]

22. I don't know about that

He barely won last time against a horrible democratic opponent.

He has real a real opponent this time out.

[SoCalDavidS]

31. I Have So Little Faith In FL Voters

I feel like he would be acting more responsibly if he thought his path to the repub nomination in ‘24 were threatened. Instead, he continues to treat COVID like some sort of joke. I would LOVE to see Charlie take him down.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. Where is DeathSantis?

Link to tweet

[crickets]

42. 👍 with a side of airplane banner over Miami.

Link to tweet

[allegorical oracle]

44. Put $$ on him being at Mar-A-Lago

[monkeyman1]

16. seem's like the peasants are piss'd at king Ronnie the Turd ?

[progree]

17. The happy bubbly brigade will be along shortly to tell us that one day number is high because of

backlog from Christmas weekend. -- I saw that in an LBN post about the U.S. overall case load today.

So not to worry our pretty little heads off.

Well, in the U.S. AND in Florida, the 7 day moving average is also well above previous all-time highs too. So it's not just a one-day number thing.

The 7 day moving average through Dec 29 includes Dec. 23 through Dec. 29 -- meaning it includes some pre-Christmas high testing, the Christmas testing/reporting lull, and, yes the post-Christmas catchup in reporting. So it's a pretty evenly balanced number.

In Florida, the 7 day moving average through December 29 is 30,356 cases/day average, 23% above the previous (other than the last few days) all-time high that was set in August.

Oh, and Florida is now #4 worst state in the U.S. in daily new cases per capita, 7 day moving average.

And it has seen a 14 day increase of 1,056% (7 day moving average ending Dec 29 compared to 7 day moving average ending Dec 15). That's an 11.56-fold increase

Next up - but hospitalization rates are only slightly up.

The rate is up 2.24 fold since Dec. 1. Slightly up?

U.S. - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
Florida - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/florida-covid-cases.html

[PerceptionManagement]

18. #HermanCainAward candidate?

[BlueWavePsych]

20. K&R

[aggiesal]

21. Apparently, Florida provided 10% of all new cases in the US yesterday. n/t

[cstanleytech]

23. True, his having COVID could explain his silence as it would be easy for him to

issue a statement about the current outbreak even if he was on vacation.
On the other hand if he is in some private hospital on a ventilator its much more difficult for him to issue any statement at all.

[multigraincracker]

26. I hear he said he'd be glad to let tfg

grab his pu**y.

[2naSalit]

27. On vacation...

Didn't he do this last year too?

[hay rick]

30. Invisibility may be his best political option right now. nt

[Akoto]

32. He's off helping deprive the disabled, homeless, and ill like myself of benefits. n/t

[TeamProg]

33. He's a fascist leader that must be stopped and even thrown in prison. n/t

[LetMyPeopleVote]

34. #WhereIsRon DeSantis.

Link to tweet

[Marcuse]

35. Is he still working to protect the reproductive rights of the virus in public schools?

[link:https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/florida-strips-federal-funding-from-schools-as-further-punishment-for-masking/|

October 28, 2021 The state of Florida this week withheld nearly $700,000 in funding from two school districts as part of an escalating feud led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over school mask requirements.

The state had previously financially penalized the Alachua and Broward school boards by docking their salaries for issuing school mask requirements, which DeSantis has worked to ban. In response to the financial penalties, the Biden administration last month awarded the counties federal funding to compensate for losses. Alachua County was awarded $147,719 and Broward County Public Schools received $420,957 in federal grants under the US Department of Education (USDOE) Project Safe grant.


But this week, the Florida Department of Education took things a step further. For this month's budgets, the Sunshine State docked the school boards' salaries and overall school funding in amounts equal to the federal grants, effectively canceling out the counties' federal aid.

The Florida Department of Education deducted $164,505 from Alachua's October budget allocation and a total of $526,197 from Broward's, according to Politico.

Alachua County Public Schools Superintendent Carlee Simon told the outlet that the district was hit hard financially because it had not yet accessed the federal grant money.


"I am appalled that the state would penalize the district by pulling funding we have not even received," Simon said. She added that the deduction would impact support for students.

The funding cut is also in direct defiance of the federal government. Just Monday, the USDOE sent a letter to the Florida DOE stating that if the department went through with the funding cut, it would be "failing to comply with federal requirements," particularly of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. A section of the act says that states are not to take federal funding into account when setting their own aid to schools. Florida DOE spokesperson Jared Ochs responded Wednesday by calling the USDOE's letter "harassing and legally hollow."

Meanwhile, DeSantis' executive order barring school districts from setting mask requirements remains in legal limbo. In August, a Leon County Circuit judge struck down the order, saying it violates the state constitution. DeSantis appealed, and the 1st District Court of Appeal allowed the governor's order to remain in effect until the case is considered.


Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics endorse universal masking in schools to prevent transmission of the pandemic coronavirus and to protect children, teachers, and staff. Studies published last month by the CDC concluded that schools with universal masking were 3.5 times less likely to have a COVID-19 outbreak. Additionally, masked school districts saw 50 percent lower rates of child COVID-19 in their counties than schools without mask requirements.

[oasis]

36. He belongs in hell with Herman Cain. nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

37. Where is Ron DeSantis now?

Link to tweet

[Kid Berwyn]

46. It doesn't seem like stupidity.

Seems intentional, the mass murder.

[Baitball Blogger]

38. MIA for 13 days? How does a governor of a major state go MIA?

Someone has to know where he is.

[flying_wahini]

39. Probably skiing in the Swiss Alps with Putin's buddies.

[C Moon]

40. He's getting a second booster.

[pfitz59]

41. He's likely at an illegal fund-raising event

on some private island or at a secluded ski lodge. He is a known grifter.

[allegorical oracle]

43. Maybe he's taken a cruise on a floating petri dish

as one passenger recently described her experience. DeSantis is inexplicably (purposely?) ignorant for a guy who attended Ivy League schools. Or maybe he's a fraud like the orange sociopath who brags about being a Wharton whiz kid.

[Stuart G]

45. Someone will find out where he is. No reelection for him. It is as simple as that.