Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees is leaving Ron DeSantis’ administration in September. This news comes as more statistics are revealed showing COVID-19 cases spiraling out of control.
BREAKING: Florida reported 901 previously unreported #COVID19-related deaths today, the highest number of the pandemic. That pushed the 7-day average of deaths to a new record high. Here are the latest statistics from @HealthyFla and @CDCgov. https://t.co/v8qBw4lQ7g
— South Florida Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) August 26, 2021
You can’t blame the man for wanting to get off a sinking ship. Interestingly enough, calls for his resignation were already being made. The Gainesville Sun:
As our “state’s doctor,” shouldn’t he have been holding town hall meetings (out of doors with proper social distancing) in communities with low COVID immunization rates to try to overcome vaccine hesitancy, a subject that all general pediatricians regularly encounter and address?
Why, with all the controversy over masks, have we not heard him ardently advocate the positions of both the American Academy of Pediatrics (to which he has belonged) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that in schools all staff and students who are 2 years or older wear face masks unless medical or developmental conditions prohibit their use?
Why has he allowed Gov. DeSantis to go verbally unchallenged on this critically important subject? Why has he not rebuked the false and misleading information contained in the Governor’s Executive Order 21-175, the order that bars school districts in the state of Florida from instituting mask mandates in our public schools?
We have been hoping that Dr. Rivkees chose to work for Gov. DeSantis so that he could exert influence on the governor’s policies in a medically sound direction. However, we now feel that his public silence as the pandemic surges speaks volumes as to why he is no longer suited to be surgeon general.
For the sake of the safety and the health of Florida’s residents, we urge Dr. Rivkees to step down from his position.
The middle of a surging pandemic is not the time to change chief medical officers, any more than you want to change horses in the middle of a rushing river. If, on the other hand, the horse you’re on is going under and there are other, well horses in the water, maybe you best grab the nearest one and try to stay alive.
Florida is running out of oxygen, strained for personnel and ICU beds and I’m sure you’ve seen at least one photo of people stretched out on car seats in the parking lots of hospitals or on the floors of the hospitals themselves.
Whatever you do, if you’re in Florida, don’t break a bone or have a heart attack, because they can’t treat you. They are overwhelmed.
And don’t lose sight of the fact that DeSantis wants the highest office in the land.
FloriDUH is one of the very small number of states I’ve never set foot in, and I’ve even been to Alaska. But Florida? Nope. I should have gotten to spend some time there becoming a Naval Aviator but the Corps thought I was too old for OCS. And admittedly, having grown up engaging in outdoor stuff and having once worked in conservation spending time deep in the Everglades was a wish. But given how badly we’ve fucked up THAT, the desire to visit is long gone. Disney? I’ve thought pretty much all things Disney sucked from the time I can remember.
But now, NOW I have the very best of reasons not to set foot in Florida. Could we maybe just saw it off and cast it adrift into the Atlantic?
My sister’s ex lives there – his kids are environmental-science types. So give them a chance to get out first.
Aside from who may love there at any given time, there are some breathtaking natural resources that are worth seeing. It’s a truly unique biome to the rest of the country.
With our luck a confrontation with three of the largest, most violent hurricanes ever, they might just blow it back up, clear to Atlanta, a strong voice in the wind saying, and don’t come back until DeSantis is neutered and all school kids are wearing masks, distancing and washing hands …
Oh well, until they can fix the road they are on in Florida, there will not be enough crematory’s to remove all the bodies and the disease from dead bodies and the ever-growing stench will remove a lot of vacationers as well … an unending disaster in all the southern states …
Thanks TRUMP and all your complicit Republican supporters … along with the usual mouthpieces, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul
“Could we maybe just saw it off and cast it adrift into the Atlantic?”
No need. Global warming will ultimately see to that. Too bad it can’t come sooner without roasting the rest of us.
Right on about FL but have been there many times and the people are great. They deserve better.
It’s a good thing Florida’s population is mostly young and healthy.
I mean if there were a lot of older, vulnerable people living there, that could be a problem…
Oh, wait, nevermind.