DeSantis’ Masque of the Red Death
To the editor:
Happy New Year. If your family and circle of friends is intact, celebrate. Sadly, nearly 63,000 COVID deaths in Florida leaves many families and loved ones grieving instead of happily ringing in a new year.
Why so many? Why did Florida lead during the summer surge in cases and deaths? Why over a 300% increase in COVID last week? Even while the Omicron virus is rampart all across the country, why does it reach dramatic extremes in Florida?
Gov. DeSantis has staked his political future on the flimsy premise that safe and sensible public health measures “take away our liberty.” He endorses treatment instead of prevention implying that getting COVID is a reasonable choice in lieu of vaccination (with complete disregard of those being infected as a result), refuses to even reveal whether he has received the booster, peddles quackery through his unorthodox surgeon general, and repeatedly pounds away his message of “No shutdowns,” when no one is even calling for one. He rejects the notion that he could encourage his constituents to care about one another; instead he pits them against one another.
The Omicron surge will be serious. We will lose more citizens who want to live and thrive. They are being treated as expendable. DeSantis’ ambitions take precedence. And cost lives.
Susan McGuire
Bokeelia