At least four protesters interrupted a press conference held by Florida Gov Ron DeSantis on Monday to accuse him of lying to the public and mishandling the coronavirus pandemic as the state records more than 10,000 new cases for the sixth day in a row.
In the video, the four men are seen toward the back of OneBlood's headquarters in Orlando shouting 'shame on you' at DeSantis, who they claim has been 'lying to the public'.
Another protester yelled: 'You are mishandling! Shame on you!'
'Thousands of deaths are on your hands,' a third shouts as police officers try to escort the men outside.
Once the men were out of the room, DeSantis told reporters: 'And we will not be defunding the police, don't worry about that.'
But the commotion didn't stop with escorting the men out. Moments later, they are seen banging on the windows of building chanting 'shame on you'.
The incident occurred the same day Florida reported 10,347 new cases, the sixth day in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new infections.
At least four protesters interrupted a press conference held by Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (at the podium) on Monday to accuse him of lying to the public and mishandling the coronavirus pandemic as the state records more than 10,000 new cases for the sixth day in a row
In the video, the four men (left and far right) are seen toward the back of OneBlood's headquarters in Orlando shouting 'shame on you' at DeSantis, who they claim has been 'lying to the public'
'Thousands of deaths are on your hands,' one protester (right) yells as police officers try and escort the men outside
Overall, the state has reported 350,047 cases since March 1. Another 92 people died in Florida, increasing the state's death toll to 5,183.
Hospitals in Florida say they are in desperate need of remdesivir - a medication that has been shown to shorten average hospitalization times - to treat the coronavirus patients who are filling up beds.
In response, DeSantis announced 30,000 vials of the drug were being shipped to the state - enough to treat about 5,000 patients.
NBC Miami reports that the state is now averaging 114 deaths per day over the last week.
Dade County had the largest number of total cases at 87,035, and was followed by Broward County at 40,976.
And despite the climbing cases in Florida, Walt Disney World continues to welcome guests to its theme parks.
In a recent statement, the company said it will be banning guests from dining while walking through its parks, telling visitors that they must be stationary and socially distanced if they want to remove their masks to eat.
Hospitals in Florida say they are in desperate need of remdesivir - a medication that has been shown to shorten average hospitalization times - to treat the coronavirus patients who are filling up beds
In response, DeSantis announced 30,000 vials of the drug were being shipped to the state - enough to treat about 5,000 patients
Guests were allowed back into the 'happiest place on Earth' when the Florida amusement park reopened on July 11, but Disney officials have already had to fix a glaring loophole in its face mask policies.
The initial policy asked that visitors 'please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming'.
But the new policy, updated on Monday, clarified that guests 'may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing'.
It doesn't appear that DeSantis is considering a possible shutdown of the state despite calls from local leaders to do so.
On Friday, several Florida Democrats sent a letter to DeSantis urging him issue a statewide stay-at-home and mask order.
“As you know, the state hit record high numbers of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past week—including more than 15,000 positive cases, a nationwide record, this past Sunday,' the representatives wrote last week,.
'Florida is now the global epicenter of this pandemic…Over the past week, Florida reported its highest daily COVID-19 deaths twice and averaged 90 deaths per day.
'These are devastating trends, and we are concerned that you have neglected to take any meaningful action to bring the outbreak in our state under control,' the letter continued.
The Democratic leaders warned that if the state does not close, Florida’s 'economy will contract and shutter on its own, needlessly subjecting Floridians to both lost jobs and wages, as well as preventable death and illness'.
And despite the climbing cases in Florida, Walt Disney World continues to welcome guests (pictured on July 15) to its theme parks
Guests wait in line to ride Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, in Lake Buena Vista, on July 16
Metrics for the country have grown worse including a rising number of cases, deaths and hospitalizations along with rates of positive test results.
The virus has killed 140,000 people in the US and infected some 3.7 million, both figures leading the world.
Florida is one of at least 14 states that have reported record hospitalizations so far in July. Other states include, Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Texas. In California, the city of Los Angeles is on the brink of issuing a new stay-at-home.
Meanwhile, Chicago reimposed some coronavirus restrictions on Monday.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new restrictions due to take effect on Friday including a ban on indoor service at bars and shutdown of personal services such as shaves and facials that require the removal of masks.
'While we aren't near the peak of the pandemic from earlier this year, none of us wants to go back there,' Lightfoot said in a statement.
New York state reported the fewest hospitalizations from the coronavirus in four months on Monday just as New York City entered a new phase of reopening.
The state, at one time the epicenter of the pandemic, recorded eight deaths on Sunday while the total number of people hospitalized for the disease fell to 716, the fewest since March 18, Governor Andrew Cuomo said.
Cuomo called the figures 'good news,' although a Reuters analysis of data from the COVID Tracking Project showed cases rose in the past week for the first time since April, to more than 5,000, breaking a 13-week streak of declines.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pushing for schools to reopen in a few weeks and resisting a federal mandate that people wear masks in public, part of what Cuomo called an 'incompetent' federal government response.
'I've said to the president from Day One: This virus does not respond to politics,' Cuomo told a news conference. 'The solution is medicine and science.'
The governor said the country was still 'totally unprepared' as other states lagged in testing, contact tracing, and personal protective equipment or doctors and nurses.
'Their mistake was they listened to the president,' Cuomo said, while also blasting 'stupid and reckless' people in his own state who persistently gather in large groups.
Trump denied trying to play down the danger in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, blaming China for allowing the virus to escape and criticizing experts for being wrong in their early analysis of the outbreak.
Trump called Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease official, an 'alarmist'.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Monday said the US now has better testing capacity and more personal protective equipment.
'This administration really fights to protect our freedoms but we want people to know freedom comes with responsibility,' Adams told Fox News.
'And part of that responsibility means wearing a face covering when you go out, washing your hands, trying to watch your distance around other people.'
No comments:
Post a Comment