DeSantis, Ladapo put us in deadly danger

Should Governor Ron DeSantis be held accountable for depraved indifference that has made Florida one of the leading states in per capita deaths from COVID-19 and, during the 2022 height of the pandemic, the leading state in the per capita deaths of people over 65?

Worldwide experience and overwhelming reports by medical and health experts with the COVID-19 pandemic show that there are four major approaches that have been the most successful in containing the virus: lockdown, quarantine, masks and vaccinations. Masks and vaccinations are the least restrictive and I will deal with them only.

By refusing to actively support methods proven to have a restraining impact on COVID, DeSantis and his surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, have let thousands of Floridians die who otherwise would not have. By refusing to allow many constituents to implement anti-COVID methods and by discouraging and even preventing widespread use of the vaccine and masks, DeSantis and Ladapo appear to be guilty of negligence.

On at least four different occasions, when the incidence of infections dropped, DeSantis relaxed even some of the minimal preventive restrictions, on each occasion spiking an increase in infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Forbidding schools and municipalities from requiring a mask mandate that responsible scientists, doctors and educators worldwide urge as a protection for students resulted in a doubling of child deaths from COVID when children in Florida returned to school in 2021.

According to a Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center report, at least one in every 246 Floridians has died from COVID. More than 86,850 have died. More than 7,574, 590 have been infected by the coronavirus. Comparing figures with countries and states that put peoples lives above political considerations and that implemented protective methods, thousands, possibly even tens of thousands of Floridians' lives could have been saved. An example is the state of New Hampshire’s mask and vaccine policies. It is estimated that if all U.S. states had copied New Hampshire’s practices between January 2020 and July 2022, there would have been 504,000 fewer COVID deaths in the United States. On September 20, 2020, it was reported that Florida broke its record for most coronavirus deaths in a day. On August 25, 2021, the New York Times reported that more people in Florida were catching the virus and were being hospitalized and dying from COVID-19 than in any previous point in the pandemic. During the 2021 resurge of COVID, Florida had the highest per capita death toll. In 2022 Florida’s COVID death rate for the elderly was the highest in the nation, with more people over 65 dying from the virus in Florida than in any other state. This year, as COVID began a resurge, Florida was 12th in the country in per capita deaths from the disease — only 11 states had a worse record. As COVID continues to rise again, the Center for Disease Control recommends nationwide use of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, with everyone six months and older receiving one new shot. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the safety of the vaccine. The independent private Biological License Application firm approved the new vaccine by a vote of 13 to 1.

This September 15 The News-Press reported that, despite the overwhelming approval by the country’s health experts, Surgeon General Ladapo announced that Florida’s health officials will recommend against the use of the new vaccine by anyone under 65. Governor DeSantis moderated the meeting at which the announcement was made. Florida’s hospitals are currently reporting more COVID cases than any other state. As this is being written over 90,000 Floridians have already died from COVID and new cases have exceeded 24,000 for each of the past two weeks.

In effect, DeSantis and Ladapo have announced a death sentence for hundreds and perhaps thousands of Floridians under the age of 65. No matter how apparent, neither will be indicted for manslaughter. How, then, do we prevent continuing unnecessary deaths from COVID of our friends, families and even ourselves? One way is for the responsible doctors and health experts in the state to speak out, to reach the public despite DeSantis and Ladapo. For example, former Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees has publicly criticized the state’s refusal to provide anti-COVID vaccine protection for those under 65. If other concerned Floridians also speak out, write letters to the editor, post on social media, and communicate with as many people as possible, we might successfully counter the deadly danger DeSantis and Ladapo are putting us in.

Robert Hilliard is a World War II veteran, former federal government official and college dean who lives on Sanibel.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: DeSantis, Ladapo put us in deadly danger