Florida became the third U.S. state to record one million coronavirus cases this week and yet its people have been misled by the state’s leadership about the extent and dangers of the epidemic, especially in the run-up to the presidential election, an investigation has found.
The administration of Governor Ron Descentis, while facing a state health cemetery threat so far, has engaged in a spin and concealment method about Covid-19, according to an investigation by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
According to the newspaper, the Republican Democrats influenced the state administration to “adversely suppress” Facts, dangerous misinformation, dismissal of public health professionals and promotion of scientific dissent Who supported the governor’s hostile approach to the disease.
De Santis declined to be interviewed, the Sun Sentinel said, but noted that he told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight earlier this week that media criticism of his approach was “all political.”
The investigation found that a county-level spokesman for the Florida Department of Health stopped making public statements about Covid-19 during the September-November 3 election.
And previously epidemic state leaders did not publish details about the initial cases in Florida and denied that the virus was spread from person to person, despite the fact that the coronavirus is highly contagious.
By imitating the tactical approach of the state leadership, imitating the tactical approach of Dr. Donald Nald Trump, the American president, to whom DeSantis is a loyalist, has helped to raise public culture in which many people stay away from face masks and gather easily in crowded bars and parties. Contrary to federal public health guidelines, the newspaper said.
The Sun Sentinel said its detailed report is based on visits by scientists, doctors, politicians and officials and a review of thousands of pages of documents.
The governor’s spokesman claimed on Twitter that the coronavirus was less deadly than the flu, while the toll of the virus was quoted similarly.
With the Florida case approaching 900,000 in the run-up to the election, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Galber said at a press conference, calling for a statewide mask order: “It is clear that Florida is not doing what it is doing right now. It’s not entirely clear that Florida’s approach to managing this epidemic has failed miserably. “
He said the lines to be tested were spread around his community block. “The state has turned back its testing facilities … the state needs to take control of this,” he said.
Galbraith added that Descentis “fully opened up the economy in late September and at the same time prevented local governments from enforcing the individual mask order, which we have seen a boom.”
Governor’s spokesman Fred Piccolo Jr. told the Sun Sentinel that Dissentis does not revolve around facts and is stuck with a fact-based message that is most fulfilling in saving lives.
“The governor has been consistent since the beginning of the epidemic,” he said. “Wash your hands, maintain social distance, wear a mask, etc. But with the availability of that data, it has become more convenient.”
The investigation claimed that Descentis had shut down leading scientists from public dialogue on the coronavirus.
In late August, Descentis invited academic Scott Atlas to visit Florida with him, and they appeared at events where they talked about the benefits of avoiding social sanctions.
Atlas became Trump’s controversial leading coronavirus adviser, as he moved away from the most senior public health officials, such as President Anthony Fauci and Deborah Burks. Atlas resigned from his White House post earlier this week.
And as the election approaches, the Florida Department of Health cut back on public information about the coronavirus and shut down its regular posts on Facebook and Twitter about Covid-19 safety measures.
Florida’s leading university affiliates of infectious diseases have largely been sidelined and bypassed.
“We have more than 200 affiliated faculties at this institution,” Glenn Morris, director of the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute, told the Sun Sentinel.
“We do it for a living. Yet the state has not taken full advantage of that skill. ”
