Florida's worst month yet: How Gov. DeSantis ignored the best ways to save lives as COVID-19 cases hit record highs
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- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has questioned the effectiveness of masks and lockdowns.
- Meanwhile, Florida's daily COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have climbed to record highs.
- Here's a timeline of how DeSantis' approach to COVID-19 has undermined proven ways to save lives.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Last month, as Florida's COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket for a third time, Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign team started selling merchandise with messages repudiating public-health guidance. Beer koozies read, "Don't Fauci My Florida" or quoted the governor's catchphrase, "How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?"
In recent weeks, DeSantis has doubled down on his opposition to masks and lockdowns, blamed the spread of coronavirus variants on immigration, and poked fun at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest guidance.
All the while, Florida's COVID-19 cases have climbed to unprecedented highs: The state's daily cases rose six-fold in the last month, from around 3,400 to more than 21,000, on average. That makes the current outbreak Florida's largest yet. The state recorded nearly 25,000 cases on Tuesday alone - its all-time record.
The total number of people currently hospitalized with COVID-19, meanwhile, reached a record of around 15,000 on Tuesday. Deaths have climbed almost five-fold in the last month.
DeSantis "does not seem to want to participate" in the fight against the virus, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing on Wednesday. Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz used stronger language: "death by DeSantis."
A timeline of DeSantis' last month shows how he has disavowed or ignored the strategies most likely to save lives while Florida's COVID-19 cases spiralled out of control. DeSantis' office did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
The governor banned school mask mandates in July
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DeSantis signed an executive order on July 30 that prohibited schools from requiring students to wear masks. By then, the state's cases had risen nine-fold since July 1. The order falsely stated that masking guidance for students "lacks a well-grounded scientific justification." In reality, several peer-reviewed studies have indicated that masks lower transmission in schools.
At a press conference in Fort Pierce, DeSantis said it wasn't "healthy" for kids "to be muzzled and have their breathing obstructed every day in school."
At the American Legislative Exchange Council's annual meeting in Utah, he told the crowd: "It's very important that we say, unequivocally: No to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, and no mandates."
Since then, more than 800 physicians have signed an open letter asking DeSantis to repeal his anti-mask order.
DeSantis cited 'media hysteria' as Florida ICUs neared capacity
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At a press conference in Everglades National Park last week, DeSantis said COVID-19 patients represented "a fraction of the overall hospital beds."
"I don't want to see a repeat because of some of the media hysteria where people who have heart problems or stroke are not going in to get care," he added.
At the time, more than 11,5000 people in Florida were in the hospital with COVID-19 - a higher number than at any prior moment in the pandemic. The Florida Hospital Association reported that the state's ICUs were at 87% capacity.
The governor sparred with the White House as cases approached record highs
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Biden told governors in a speech last week that if they aren't willing to implement mask mandates or vaccine requirements, they should "at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing."
DeSantis referenced Biden's remarks the following day, as Florida recorded 17,000 new daily cases and 140 deaths.
In a fundraising email, he called Biden a "power-hungry tyrant" who was trying to "commandeer the rights and freedoms of Floridians."
"Let me tell you this: If you are coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way," DeSantis said at a news conference in Panama City. "I'm not gonna let you get away with it."
He also claimed, falsely, that Biden was "importing more virus from around the world" by allowing unlawful immigration.
"Whatever variants are around the world, they're coming across that southern border," DeSantis said. "He's not shutting down the virus, he's helping to facilitate it."
On Monday, DeSantis threatened to withhold funding for schools that require masks
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Some Florida school districts have defied DeSantis' ban on mask rules. In a statement to CBS Miami on Monday, DeSantis' office said it would consider withholding the salaries of district superintendents or school board members in those counties.
But the superintendent for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Alberto Carvalho, said he would continue to listen to public-health experts.
"At no point shall I allow my decision to be influenced by a threat to my paycheck; a small price to pay considering the gravity of this issue and the potential impact to the health and well-being of our students and dedicated employees," Carvalho told CBS Miami.
DeSantis appealed a ruling that allows cruises to require vaccinations
DeSantis signed a law banning businesses, schools, and government entities from requiring proof of vaccination in May, and the policy went into effect July 1. At that time, 46% Floridians were fully vaccinated, and the Delta variant was already dominant in the US.
On Monday, however, a federal judge ruled that Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings could ignore the law and require Florida passengers to show proof of vaccination on its cruises.
DeSantis' office filed a notice of appeal in response to the decision.
His office also sued the CDC in April over the agency's guidance for cruise ships. One of DeSantis' main concerns was a CDC recommendation to require 95% of crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated. A federal appeals court ruled in July that the CDC couldn't enforce the cruise-ship rules in Florida.
DeSantis questioned whether the Biden administration had sent ventilators to Florida
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An official from the Department of Health and Human Services told CNN that it sent 200 ventilators and 100 oxygen supply kits from the national stockpile to Florida earlier this week.
"I would honestly doubt that that's true, but I'll look," DeSantis said of the report on Tuesday, adding, "I've not had any requests across my desk. I have not been notified of that."
The HHS official told CNN that the federal government only sends out ventilators upon request from states.
On Tuesday, Florida's Brevard County reported that all three of its hospital systems were over capacity. Several Florida hospitals told WFTS-TV that there were up to two-hour waits for ambulances to transfer patients to hospitals, and some beds were spilling over into hallways.
"Never in my entire career have I ever seen anything like this," Andrew Wilson, chief medical officer at Morton Plant North Bay Hospital, said. "My particular ER has 28 beds and a small fast-track area. We may have upwards of 40 or 50 patients in that department at a time, because we're so busy."
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