After the Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis steadfastly refused any such measures in the state.
Under DeSantis’ administration, Florida officials were barred from enforcing protections against coronavirus. Cases and deaths notably spiked in the wake of DeSantis and Florida Republicans’ push to bar vaccination and masking mandates to slow the spread of COVID-19. The death toll from this disease in Florida is higher than the total number of American servicemembers who died in the Vietnam War.
DeSantis sees this as a win, noting that the people who managed to go on living didn’t have to live in fear of being asked to wear a small piece of paper over their mouth.
“I’m so sick of politicians — and we saw this with COVID — trying to sow fear into the population,” DeSantis said at a news conference this week.“You see some of these states declaring states of emergency, they’re gonna abuse those powers to restrict your freedom. I guarantee to you that’s what will happen.”
Declaring states of emergency largely serves to free up sources of funding to help combat the problem of monkeypox. Were Florida to declare a state of emergency, more funds could be allocated to vaccination efforts and keeping people from contracting this particularly painful disease.
More than 6600 cases have been reported in the United States. Florida has more than 500 cases, the third-highest total in the US.
When he’s not thumbing his nose at yet another advancing pandemic, DeSantis is busy making it harder to access other forms of healthcare. The Florida Gov. seems to have no qualms about the government inserting itself into your life if you’re a person who needs an abortion or a transgender individual. The governor recently suspended a state attorney who refused to prosecute abortion cases under the state’s new ban and argued that doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors should be sued.