Blame Game: Rising COVID-19 Cases Leads To Pandemic Rhetoric

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FLORIDA As Florida breaks all previous records this week for new cases of the coronavirus, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden are trading pikes over who bears responsibility for the growing number of people infected in the state.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data tracker, there were 24,869 new positive cases in Florida on Wednesday, more than any other single-day number since the pandemic was declared on March 3, 2020.

The previous record was 23,983 cases on August 6.

The CDC reported 23,933 new cases in Florida on Friday.

The CDC said the majority of people who tested positive were infected with the delta variant, confirming the claim by CDC director Dr Rochelle Walenksy that this variant is much more contagious than any of the previous variants of the coronavirus.

Growing numbers reported by the CDC as well as Florida hospitals announcing the postponement of elective surgeries due to coronavirus patients filling hospital beds have prompted businesses, universities and municipalities across the state to reinstate them. face mask requirements and, in many cases, require vaccines for employees.

With most Florida schools reopening for the New Year last week, the increase in the number of cases has also reignited the debate over hiding schoolchildren.

Floridians, frustrated at having to return to safety protocols again after experiencing two months of normalcy, are eager to point fingers, turning the health crisis into a political war of words.

During press conferences over the past two weeks, DeSantis blamed the increase in cases on a normal seasonal aberration, on the CDC for reporting false numbers and on Biden for allowing “hundreds of thousands of people” to cross the Mexican border into the United States.

“Why don’t you secure this border? DeSantis asked Biden at a press conference in Panama City on August 4. “Until you do this, I don’t want to hear about COVID from you.”

DeSantis was responding to a statement from Biden the day before, saying that “some governors are unwilling to do what it takes to beat this pandemic.”

“I say to these governors, please help. But if you don’t help, at least get away from the people who are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives,” Biden said. .

Biden denounced Republican governors who blocked efforts to make vaccines and face masks mandatory, and banned the use of so-called “vaccine passports” (requiring customers to produce proof of vaccination) to enter In the enterprises.

It doesn’t matter who is to blame, the latest figures showing Florida is outflanking all other states in new coronavirus cases with a statewide positivity rate of 24.9%, according to the CDC, and a Statewide positivity rate of 19.3 percent, according to the DOH, for the past seven days compared to the national positivity rate of 9.73 percent.

CDCFlorida has also added 286 more deaths to its death toll of 40,766 people since the start of the pandemic, according to the Florida Department of Health.

Meanwhile, health officials across Florida say vaccinations and other preventative measures, along with prompt medical treatment for those infected, are the keys to bringing COVID-19 under control.

The DOH said 65% of Floridians are now fully vaccinated.

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