Relief more needed than reopening, Gov. DeSantis

As COVID-19 cases in Florida continue to rise every day, Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving ahead with his plans to prematurely lift public safety measures put in place to mitigate the spread of the lethal disease.

This week, public safety measures for Broward and Miami-Dade counties, epicenters of the outbreak in Florida, are being lifted. This comes after Gov. DeSantis’ ludicrous decision to reopen gyms last week, because, according to DeSantis, “this is a virus that if you’re in good shape, you’re probably gonna be OK. So why would we want to dissuade people from going to be in shape?”

With logic like that, it’s easy to see why the governor’s response to the coronavirus has been criticized across the country.

Meanwhile, nearly 2 million Floridians are out of work, while rent, mortgages and bills keep piling up. At the moment when we need it the most, Florida continues to have the worst unemployment insurance system in the United States.

Governor DeSantis, Florida doesn’t need to reopen, it needs relief.

It needs relief from the insurmountable financial burden of rent and mortgage payments that promise to bury families in debt or cast them out onto the streets.

It needs relief from the moral corruption of a healthcare system that shuts its doors to the sick and dying, indifferent to their suffering so long as they cannot pay.

It needs relief from a dystopian prison and immigrant detention system, devoid of all compassion, that denies people their dignity and treats them like chattel.

It needs relief that could be easily provided if Florida’s leaders would only treat their constituents with the same concern they afford multi-million dollar corporations—who are coming away from this crisis with a massive tax windfall.

We understand that many desperate workers see reopening the state as their only option to survive, but for many people in our communities, “reopening” is a myth at best or a deadly risk at worst. The urgency given to lifting protective measures betrays a government ethos drenched in privilege. Reopening restaurants at reduced capacity only means servers have to work more hours for less pay. Reopening gyms, spas and salons is done with only the luxury of the customer in mind and entirely ignores the safety of the worker. Lastly, reopening some jobs will not guarantee everyone can go back to work or alleviate the months’ worth of debts that Floridians have accumulated.

To deny members of our communities unemployment benefits for two months and then demand they return to work to serve the privileged few who could not bear the inconvenience of remaining inside their palatial homes is an infuriating injustice.

To only stop evictions, but to allow rent and mortgages to keep suffocating families, is only postponing evictions until later.

Hundreds of thousands of Floridians are still struggling, unable to obtain the support they need to participate in Florida’s “reopening.” It is time for the governor to desist from his failed approach to unemployment in Florida and engage in a full-throated, comprehensive, good-faith initiative to ensure when Florida is actually ready to open, all Floridians can participate. It’s time for DeSantis to act now, cut the checks and cancel rent.

CHRIS O'MEARA/AP “We understand that many desperate workers see reopening the state as their only option to survive, but for many people in our communities, ‘reopening’ is a myth at best or a deadly risk at worst,” write the op-ed authors.