Statements
Statement by FDP Chair Manny Diaz as Florida Shatters Record for New COVID Cases For the Third Time in One Week
On Tuesday August 10 the State of Florida reported 24,753 new COVID cases to the CDC, breaking its record for new infections for the third time in a week. The state, which accounts for roughly 6.5% of the nation’s population, is now seeing almost 19% of new cases in the United States. The seven-day moving average for new cases has exploded over the last month by a factor of over 450%.
In reaction to this development, Florida Democratic Party Chair Manny Diaz issued the following statement:
“For over a month Floridians have been waking up every morning to increasingly worrying news about the spread of COVID-19 in our state, the rising rate of hospitalizations, and Governor DeSantis’s deliberate campaign to oppose every measure our nation’s top scientists have recommended to help alleviate the crisis.
“Today was no exception. On Tuesday Florida once again broke its record for new coronavirus infections, the third time it has done so over the last seven days.
“The Governor’s response to the growing crisis has been both astonishing and infuriating. Not only has he failed to address the problem, he has literally stood in the way of local governments, school boards and businesses as they have attempted to fill the leadership vacuum he has left at the top of our state’s government.
“Governor DeSantis may believe it is in his own political interest to throw his lot in with the radical anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers in his own party, but the people of Florida see the crisis he has cravenly enabled worsening by the day. By putting politics over the safety of the people he governs, Ron DeSantis has personally become a top health threat to the citizens of this state.”