The Washington Times: Florida’s fast-unsealing epidemic prevention policy wins

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis proudly opened the Conservative Congress (CPAC) on Friday, Feb. 26, with “Welcome to the oasis of freedom,” declaring Florida’s success in the 2020 Epidemic control policy. Washington Times commentator Kelly Sadler thus wrote about why DeSantis’ quick unsealing policy was the right thing to do.

The stark contrast of Florida vs. New York

Sadler writes that Governor DeSantis has been subjected to sarcastic insults from the mainstream media during the Communist virus epidemic for his unorthodox epidemic control policies. Although he, like other governors, introduced a stay-at-Home policy during the first 15 weeks of the outbreak, he was clearly aware as a parental official that a stay-at-home order for too long would cause enormous damage to the state’s economy, as well as to the mental health and lives of the people of the state.

So after spending 15 weeks stockpiling medical reserves and ordering the state’s hospitals to prepare for more patients, DeSantis announced the opening of the state’s beaches in mid-April last year. This led to a tidal wave of criticism in the mainstream media that the move would lead to the widespread spread of the CCP virus in the state and result in a large number of deaths in the state from the CCP virus.

During the same period, when so-called experts called for health care reform, discharging elderly CCP patients to nursing homes to free up beds for other patients, DeSantis rejected the proposal. Instead, then-New York Governor Cuomo heeded the advice.

The result was that Florida was able to add more beds to its hospitals and avoid the unnecessary deaths of large numbers of elderly patients from the CCP virus in nursing homes similar to those in New York State.

And again, Seidel points out, all of this was accomplished in a way that the mainstream media could not believe, because at the Time the mainstream media had been condemning DeSantis. And at the time, Florida’s epidemic numbers were “unbelievably good,” while New York Governor Cuomo received unanimous praise from the mainstream media for concealing the number of elderly deaths in nursing homes and misrepresenting the state’s epidemic numbers. Now, when people learn that Newcomer concealed the number of deaths, they are calling for Cuomo to step down or hold him accountable.

And the number of people infected with the CCP virus in Florida has remained stable so far after a high point in mid-July of last year.

While more and more U.S. states were further tightening their homeownership orders last fall due to the resurgence of the CCP virus epidemic, DeSantis was pushing for businesses in the state to return to work and schools to resume classes. As a result, Florida has seen a much higher number of schools return to face-to-face instruction than any other state in the United States. And, while Florida’s tourism industry is still suffering, the state’s economy has begun to rebound.

Benefits of economic unbundling for Floridians

Citing data released this week by the College Board, Seidel said DeSantis’ push to reopen schools has resulted in Florida ranking second in the nation for Advanced Placement Exams in 2020, behind Connecticut, which is in first place.

DeSantis’ strategy for pushing for vaccines is to take it one step at a time. He has promised to prioritize the state’s elderly, who are the most vulnerable to the CCP virus, and the mainstream media has vilified him for doing so, saying he only focuses on the rich and white. But to date, the state has vaccinated 2,792,118 people against the CCP virus, half of whom have received two doses of the CCP virus vaccine. More than 2 million older adults in Florida have been vaccinated, and the state leads the nation in vaccinations for those 65 and older.

Seidel concluded that the result of DeSantis’ epidemic control policies is that Florida has a lower mortality rate from the C.C.V. than the national average and is ranked 28th among U.S. states, even below California, which has the toughest home-based order, while Florida has a larger number of seniors.

Florida’s unemployment rate is also lower than the U.S. average; Florida’s schools offer more face-to-face classes, and the state’s budget is in good shape, with no contingency funds used for spending related to the CCHS outbreak.

As a result, DeSantis said in his speech, he was proud that his state had liberated the people of his state at a time when every other state in the United States was under the yoke of a repressive blockade policy, when too many schools were closed, businesses were shuttered and people’s lives were ruined.

Many Floridians now expect DeSantis to be the Republican Party’s presidential candidate in 2024.