Shalala, who served as secretary of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, said the virus is hurting low-income minorities in her district who were called back to work and who often live in small, multi-generational homes.
She said the “simplest thing” DeSantis could do is to impose a state-wide mask requirement and praised the mayors of South Florida for implementing such rules. But she said: “That is only a small part, because this disease does not know in which county or in which city it is found.”
“The real thing we have to do is close again,” Shalala said in her interview. “I said four months ago, if we don’t do this right, we will have to close again. That is our worst nightmare. And we will have to do it in Florida.”
Furthermore, he said his district’s economy will not be able to fully recover until the virus ends. With more than 330,000 cases in the state and more than 40 bedless hospitals available in the ICU, Shalala said the hospitals are full and lack adequate testing capacity.
“I am terrified for the first time in my career because there is a lack of leadership and we just couldn’t avoid this,” she said. “And talking about opening schools is ridiculous when the community has spread as we do here.”
Shalala asked for Senate and Trump support for the pending Heroes bill, saying the bill will make major investments in health care, education, and state and local government.
