FLORIDA OMICRON OUTBREAK OCCURRED BECAUSE DESANTIS ACTED CRIMINALLY & "SELFISHLY"; tRUMPTARD DEATHS SKYROCKET
miamiherald.com
Dec 24, 2021
Ah, the false sense of security of what seemed, in a lull in the pandemic’s rampage, like freedom from the threat of COVID-19 infection, all too suddenly has been snatched away by the omicron variant — and Floridians giddily taking risks. And just in time for Nochebuena, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Bah, humbug!
Driven by the highly contagious nature of omicron, infections are again surging in Florida. This week, the state saw the largest single-day increase of newly reported cases since the pandemic began. Deaths, too, are on the increase, according to a Miami Herald analysis of available state data reported Friday to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
With the arrival of the new variant came all the signs of trouble and a not-so-new reality: Hours-long lines for COVID testing in Miami-Dade. Two Royal Caribbean ships and one Carnival ship sailing from PortMiami and Fort Lauderdale reporting coronavirus outbreaks on board and prompting passenger and crew quarantines. Deja vu to 2020.
WHERE’S DESANTIS ON OMICRON?
And where’s Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis? Stuck in the same place where he’s been since the onset of the pandemic. Still not leading the way with sensible policies, or at least words of appropriate guidance for those who most need to hear an endorsement of science over quackery from him — the politically reticent to vaccinate. But no chance of that happening.
DeSantis is still busy peddling treatment instead of prevention. He’s still spreading lies on Fox News and any conservative right-wing program that will listen to him about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top authority on infectious diseases.
The governor calls giving a damn about the science of contamination “Faucism,” a political talking point to counteract what the rest of us see him doing on voting rights and education, governing with such authoritarianism that he comes perilously close to Fascism with every move.
So many of us wish he would put politics aside, at least for the coronavirus. It would save lives, in particular those of law-enforcement officers he’s always touting matter, as more police in South Florida have died from COVID-19 infection during the pandemic than from actual police work.
Throughout the pandemic, the line of fire has been the virus, not criminals with high-powered guns. How’s that for a shocker?
OMICRON & RISKY BEHAVIOR
Yet, despite all we know now about the coronavirus and its harmful effects, the omicron — now dominant in the United States and spreading faster than other variants — isn’t creating as much of a buzz in vaccine-stagnant, mask-rejecting Florida.
In the parts of Jacksonville where I’m spending the holidays, it’s as if omicron didn’t exist. Most people aren’t wearing masks or social distancing. The behavior is as contagious as the virus. Triple vaccinated, I’m socializing in a way I wouldn’t even think of engaging in more densely populated South Florida.
But it’s time, once again, for us to stop the risky behavior and put a medical grade mask back on, at least in poorly ventilated places, experts warn. It’s time to social distance indoors or keep holiday gatherings outdoors.
We should all be used to this by now, but who’s going to listen to common sense when the state’s top leader isn’t engaged in prevention — more than 62,300 coronavirus deaths later? Most probably, only the same science-driven crowd that has vaccinated and boosted up.
DeSantis won’t even tell the media if he got the booster shot. And he probably will remain mum now that his mentor, former president Donald Trump, got booed recently at a Republican event when he said he got the booster shot. No, omicron won’t make a bit of difference in the attitudes of the Trump-DeSantis loving crowd.
The charlatan-worshiping crowd DeSantis favors loves to point at people who were vaccinated and still get the virus as proof of their debunked beliefs. Case in point, what has apparently happened on the cruise ships, which did require vaccinations of crew and passengers.
But they’re not carting bodies off the ships in yellow bags as we saw in 2020. This time, people have mild symptoms from the quickly spreading omicron variant. Wouldn’t you call that success? Science gave us what we needed to stop the wholesale spread of the virus: vaccines.
But in the so-touted most advanced country in the world, too many discarded that solution in favor of “freedom of choice” to become infected. Comrade DeSantis throws the legislative book at businesses trying to stay COVID-free
And so, the novel coronavirus easily delivered a new variant to usher us into 2022, yet another year of COVID. Omicron is what happens when we act selfishly and reject that we’re interconnected with the rest of the world in our common humanity.
The me, me, me attitude only heightens our vulnerability to disease. We all (except those with well-founded medical exceptions) need to vaccinate, not only for ourselves, but to do our part for the rest of humanity. Without host bodies, viruses can’t survive and mutate.
Omicron is the last lesson of 2021.. Heed it, and wear the holiday smile behind the mask, even if safety mandates aren’t a thing in DeSantis’ Florida. And don’t forget to celebrate. If you’re reading this, it’s because you’re still here. |
