Florida Democratic Party on Record Number of Florida COVID-19 Cases

In response to the alarming spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases in Florida, the Florida Democratic Party released the following statement on behalf of FDP Chair Terrie Rizzo:

“From the very beginning, Donald Trump ignored public health experts and downplayed the threat of coronavirus, worsening the crisis in the United States. Ron DeSantis should have stopped taking Trump’s lead a long time ago, but tragically, he put politics over public health and now Floridians are paying the price,” said FDP Chair Terrie Rizzo, “To my fellow Floridians — wear a mask, stay home, and please be safe. ”

Last month during an event with Vice President Mike Pence, Governor Ron DeSantis claimed “we have succeeded.” Despite the Trump/DeSantis victory tour we have witnessed in the last month, it is tragically clear that they failed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the Sunshine State. In the past week alone, Florida has seen over 29,000 coronavirus cases, and today’s 8,942 cases have shattered our daily record, which was just set earlier this week.

Donald Trump Gave Up On Coronavirus

CNN: Coronavirus task force to hold first public briefing in nearly 2 months as cases rise 6.25.20
The White House announced Thursday night that Vice President Mike Pence would lead a public coronavirus task force briefing Friday morning, the first public meeting in almost two months.

NBC News: Trump says the coronavirus is ‘going away.’ His own task force disagrees 6.25.20
In Trump’s telling, the deadly pandemic isn’t really a serious threat to the public and rising infection rates are simply due to increased testing. “It’s going away,” he said Tuesday at an event in Phoenix.

CNBC: Trump says some Americans wear coronavirus masks ‘to signal disapproval of him’ 6.18.20
Trump has often been seen without a mask despite recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization that people wear them as a way to slow the spread of the virus. Scientists say the virus can spread through respiratory droplets that pass when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Studies suggest the masks may serve as a helpful barrier.

Politico: White House goes quiet on coronavirus as outbreak spikes again across the U.S. 6.10.20
It’s been more than a month since the White House halted its daily coronavirus task force briefings. Top officials like infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci have largely disappeared from national television — with Fauci making just four cable TV appearances in May after being a near fixture on Sunday shows across March and April — and are frequently restricted from testifying before Congress. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is preparing to resume his campaign rallies after a three-month hiatus, an attempted signal to voters that normalcy is returning ahead of November’s election, and that he’s all but put the pandemic behind him.

Ron DeSantis Ignored the Experts, Following Trump

Miami Herald: A Number Game: The Florida COVID-19 data said one thing while Gov. DeSantis sometimes said another 6.13.20
But a review of the data the governor was using shows his public pronouncements were often in conflict with real-time facts. He either wasn’t aware the data showed that community spread, regional outbreaks and death tolls were worse than he was telling Floridians, or he selectively focused on outdated statistics to make his case.

Miami Herald / Tampa Bay Times : How safe is Florida’s reopening plan? Public health experts give a candid critique 5.3.20
Second: Even if it’s a good approach, it’s still too soon to deploy, five of the seven concurred. Growth of the spread has slowed, but without a vaccine, it takes just one asymptomatic person to reignite an outbreak, they said, and the systems aren’t in place to catch it.

Politico: DeSantis defies critics as coronavirus spreads in Florida 6.16.20
DeSantis’ moves to return his state to normal have been as aggressive as any governor, but there’s one inconvenient fact: Florida’s coronavirus cases are rising to record levels and the percentage of positive tests has been steadily climbing ever since the state fully implemented the first phase of its reopening May 18.

WFLA: Florida doctors urge Gov. DeSantis to require face masks as coronavirus cases rise 6.16.20
A group of physicians is calling on Florida’s governor to mandate the use of face masks in order to stop the spread of coronavirus.