In this week’s letters to the editor, Florida’s COVID deniers were, for once, nowhere to be found | First Words | Orlando

More than 23,000 Floridians tested positive for coronavirus in a single day over the weekend. That topped the previous one-day record (set the day before) of 22,783 positive tests. Hospitalizations also hit a new high. The spike in cases came as children in Florida return to school in-person. State leaders have barred local school districts from taking precautions to slow the spread of coronavirus, and the state Department of Education went so far as threatening to strip the districts of funds equivalent to their superintendent and school board salaries. This last move prompted the federal government to get involved, telling local school districts that they would allocate funds directly to them and shaming state leaders for their anti-science positions. Notably absent from our comments section for the first time in a long time were the COVID deniers.

@Mark Sokolowski Politicize the response to a global pandemic — great idea! Another rotten plank in the sinking platform of party of entitled, self-serving, backward-thinking buffoons.

@Ricardo Martinez This was avoidable. Lots of “thoughts and prayers,” but no science.

@Brandon Habowski Sometimes it’s not good to be the best.

@Deb Burns-Christiansen It’s not even about the number of deaths, but the fact that when hospitals are full, they don’t even have a bed for someone if they have a heart attack, so the whole “how many deaths” whataboutism isn’t going to fly anymore!

@Rita Harris Shame on Governor Ron DeSantis and his death cult.

@Julie Cleghorn It’s madness! They are operating flights from the States to the U.K., but we are not allowed to fly to the States! What a mess! I might add that here in Scotland we still have to social distance and wear masks in ALL public places! We are still so strict, but I can’t fly to Florida?

@Barry Spaulding The sad fact is that COVID-19 is out of control in Florida, thanks to DeSantis’ incompetent, negligent policies preventing common sense pandemic control efforts. Florida now has the nation’s highest number of cases and hospitalizations, with records broken every day. Over 40,000 Floridians are already dead, hospitals are inundated, hundreds are dying each week, and schoolchildren are now in schools barred by DeSantis from mask mandates. How many will now sicken or die? DeSantis has shown utter disregard for life and safety in defying clear medical guidance and is now compromising children’s and adults’ safety and the state’s economic recovery … he needs to be prosecuted for criminal negligence!

@Fernando Maldonado Why are our state leaders so backwards?