#δesantis

Don’t be like Ms. Down-My-Throat. Get vaccinated and leave space in hospitals for people who need it.

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A news story which has been making the rounds this weekend. Somebody please forward this to Ron DeSantis...

26 COVID-19 Cases Linked to Unvaccinated Marin County Elementary School Teacher: CDC The infection rate in the classroom's first two rows, nearest the teacher, was 80%

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an unvaccinated teacher felt sick in May and assumed they had allergies. School policy required them to be masked, but the teacher removed their mask to read aloud, and within days, half of the 24 students tested positive.

The infection rate in the classroom's first two rows nearest the teacher was 80% -- eight of 10 students.

The sick students then infected siblings and parents for a total of 26 people stemming from a single case.

“It’s safe to say the index case was an unvaccinated person who was eligible to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Matt Willis, the county’s public health officer, to the Mercury News. “All the cases are unvaccinated individuals. That includes people who were eligible to be vaccinated but were unvaccinated and people who were not eligible to be vaccinated, by virtue of age.”

Yep, the infected teacher removed her mask for story time.

The outbreak took place in mid-May to June and began with the infected teacher who was one of only two staff members at the school who were unvaccinated. The teacher had symptoms of Covid-19 in mid-May but continued working until she received a positive coronavirus test.

The teacher did not wear a mask as she read to students, even though the school required face coverings indoors.

This is what happens when mask mandates are ignored.

Here’s the classroom seating chart which shows the infections from the Delta variant.

Roger Stone says he’ll seek the Libertarian Party nomination for governor of Florida if Ron DeSantis doesn’t conduct a Trump-style (i.e. dubious) audit of the state’s 2020 presidential election votes. Never mind that Trump won the state and the results are uncontested.

I think he is probably bluffing. But if he actually does run then he would probably siphon off enough extremist Trumpist votes to help elect a Democratic governor.

Despite reports of protest and resentment, the vaccination mandate for public employees is working in New York. 

Last night, the mayor announced that 91 percent of city workers now had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, after a Saturday surge saw an additional 2,300 shots. In all, according to Gothamist, 19,000 employees joined the ranks of the vaccinated since the city did away with weekly testing as an alternative.

NYC will have a more normal holiday season this year than last year — especially after vaccination for kids begins and at risk people get boosters in larger numbers.

One lesson from summer is that it’s not a good idea to declare victory too soon. So some common sense precautions like masking on public transit will remain in place.

While the city is on a slow but steady path to normalcy, it still depends on people elsewhere getting vaccinated to reduce the chances of another deadly variant mutating and spreading.

On the other extreme of pandemic management competence, there’s Ron DeSantis in Florida. 

OPINION: DeSantis' latest 'COVID Tic-Tac-Toe' move may be his worst yet

When communities and businesses throughout Florida place a constructive “O” in a square by pushing the workers they pay to become vaccinated against COVID, DeSantis immediately scampers to slap a destructive “X” in the adjacent square – through more rash executive orders, misguided lawsuits and irresponsible rhetoric – to prevent any momentum toward finally declaring victory over a modern-day plague.

Who would want to teach in Florida if Gov. Ron DeSantis is making teachers and staff die and then hiding the relevant data?

Just wondering.

The state Health Department was sued earlier this week by the Florida Center for Government Accountability and Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith for not providing detailed, daily statistics about Florida’s surging COVID-19 cases in violation of the state’s open-records laws.

The suit argues that the DeSantis administration is deliberately manipulating COVID-19 data to make it appear the problem was not as dire as it actually is.

“The DeSantis administration has consistently refused to release COVID-related public records, which not only hurts our efforts to contain this deadly virus, it is also unlawful,” Smith said in a statement after the suit was filed.

“That’s why we’re suing them — to obtain the public records our constituents are entitled to under the Florida Constitution and to force the state to resume daily COVID dashboard reporting and avoid future litigation on this matter.”

You’ll certainly need good luck with Ron DeSantis in charge!

Republicans love counties. So they might find it interesting that 13 of Florida’s 67 counties (19.4%) have vaccination rates of less than 30% of the population. (source)

All those undervaccinated counties (except Glades) are in the northern part of the state which tends to be more Republican. 

A pro-science group called 314 Action is criticizing big donors who contribute to the DeSantis pro-infection agenda.

PAC targets top Ron DeSantis donors to combat ‘destructive, anti-science agenda’

Florida is the first state in the U.S. to see more COVID-19 deaths now than during its previous winter peak, breaking prior records after logging 1,486 deaths among residents from Aug. 13-19 — its highest total ever.

Mayo Clinic professor Dr. Vincent Rajkumar blames the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus, and DeSantis’ ban on local mask mandates — including for public schools, where many students are under 12 and not yet cleared to be vaccinated.

[ ... ]

Florida’s ranking could still be far lower if DeSantis reversed course on some of his policies, according to 314 Action Executive Director Joshua Morrow, who said hitting the Governor’s campaign bank account could be the surest way to get him to rethink things.

“Ron DeSantis’ donors need to understand just what they’re funding with their big checks — the devastation of families across Florida and the United States,” he said in a statement. “(The) Governor refuses to listen to science and take necessary steps to protect lives. These donors should understand where their values lie: with the lies and corruption coming out of the DeSantis administration, not public health and safety.”

Medical experts overwhelmingly agree that COVID-19 vaccines are “remarkably effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization, and death, even against the widely circulated delta variant.”

Florida Circuit Judge John Cooper threw out Ron DeSantis’s ban on mask mandates for schools across the state. Many large school districts in Florida had been ignoring the DeSantis ban anyway. 

Cooper's ruling came in a lawsuit brought by parents from several counties who claimed DeSantis' order banning mask mandates violates the Florida Constitution. DeSantis has vowed to appeal the decision. 

OMG, another DeSantis voter explodes! At least he preserved his free-dumb.

Florida's public health battle rages

Gov. Ron DeSantis is doing everything he can to politicize the pandemic.

It's time for DeSantis to realize that his Trump-backed actions may thrill his base, but, going forward, he'll need more than true believers to win higher office. Does he really want to be cast as the governor who not only risked children's lives, but was so relentless that he didn't care one whit about crippling Florida's ability to educate them? Who prohibited local officials from imposing tough COVID safety mandates? Who meddled in private business at the risk of cruise passengers' lives? Who hides COVID data?

It's not a good look. Unless local communities and businesses stand up to the governor, the bullying will continue. More should follow Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings' example. A federal judge allowed the company to require passengers to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination. A new law championed by DeSantis and challenged in court by Norwegian prohibited businesses from asking for so-called COVID passports. He's vowed to appeal the judge's preliminary injunction.

Norwegian isn't simply acting out of principle. It's acting to preserve its ability to conduct business in the industry that was the most affected by COVID-19's economic ramifications, not to mention the deadly outbreaks on cruise ships early in the pandemic.