Please, governor, step up to keep us safe
This time last year, Central Floridians and visitors were looking back on a holiday season that none of us could have imagined and thinking, “Wow, that was one for the books. We’ll never see anything like that again.”
And yet. Here we are. Just like last year, new COVID infections — which had shown a comforting decline in the fall — surged over the holidays and are bound to get worse before they get better. We have yet to learn how many Central Florida families will be affected by fateful decisions to gather for the holidays only to learn, when it’s too late to reclaim a safe social distance, that one or more of them has shown the dreaded double-pink line of a positive home COVID test.
We already know that some of those people will not make it. While the omicron variant is said to be milder, that isn’t always the experience, particularly not for those who are hit by COVID’s rear guard of opportunistic bacteriological or viral infections.
In retrospect, President Biden’s advice to the already-vaccinated — that there’s no need to cancel holiday plans — seems ill-advised. Many of those testing positive report that they are fully vaccinated. They are learning the hard way, and after the fact, that there was no such thing as too careful.
And as always, the suffering extends to those who are not infected. Tourism, still Central Florida’s chief industry, is in for another crippling hit; we can already see misery multiplying in the slumped postures and desperation of thousands of travelers stranded by cancelled flights and derailed plans. Meanwhile, hospitals are facing a double hit from nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists and other critical workers who are out sick — and those who have simply had enough, and are making their plans to exit professions they never thought they’d leave behind.
Here’s what’s different from last year: Today’s outlook is colored by the creeping fear that this is not no longer unusual. That this is, in fact, the new normal: Wave after wave of infection, each crashing over us just as we’ve caught our breath from the last.
We must, however, hold on to a few truths. Widespread vaccination remains the best hope for fighting COVID back to a manageable level. Those who completed a one- or two-dose vaccine protocol should adjust their thinking and make haste to get a booster if they have not already done so. Adding a flu shot only makes sense, and parents should also act quickly to vaccinate their children.
In the meantime, we plead, once again, with Gov. Ron DeSantis to reconsider his laissez-faire attitude toward public health. At the least, he can urge Floridians to act prudently, including the use of good-quality masks and social distancing in public places. We understand that DeSantis has chosen to stake his governorship and large numbers of Floridian lives on the proposition that it’s possible to carry on as normal. But as the numbers tick upward, the number of Florida residents whose lives will never be normal again — because they have suffered long-term effects from the ravages of the virus, because they have lost loved ones despite precautions and vaccination — will continue to grow.
Governor, please. We’re begging you: You have the opportunity to protect countless families from unfathomable pain. Please listen to the experts — the real experts, the exhausted warriors who have been fighting on the front lines of this disease and who know, better than anyone, how great a risk Florida faces right now. Please use the power of your office to encourage safety. To stay home when it’s possible. To use proper protective gear when it’s not. To get the vaccine and the booster. To prioritize safety.
This is Florida’s best hope of overcoming this latest wave: Not through bravado and braggadocio, but through caution and avoidance of risk. For a governor who has built his public persona on swagger, it will take an extraordinary act of political courage to provide Floridians with the leadership they need to keep them safe. We hope DeSantis finds that courage. Lives depend upon it.
Editorials are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board and are written by one of our members or a designee. The editorial board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com.