We mean no disrespect, but when the world renown guru of infectious diseases, who's also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and who opened our eyes to the scourge of HIV/AIDs in the 1980s says that there has been community spread of the coronavirus in Florida, whom should we believe _ Dr. Anthony Fauci, said guru, or Gov. Ron DeSantis, who says, Nope, there's no community spread of the virus in the state?
In fact, the DeSantis administration has gone into a Trump-like denial of the coronavirus' spread, surprising and disappointing for a governor who has been fairly transparent about the disease.
Why not confirm it first, Governor? This knee-jerk, nothing-to-see-here response is dangerous.
Fauci, a leading infectious disease expert on the federal Coronavirus Task Force, said on Tuesday that Florida is one of four states with "community spread" of the disease. In other words, some people with confirmed cases have not traveled to countries where the virus is rampant, nor do they meet other high-risk factors. How they contracted the disease, then, is not yet obvious.
DeSantis spokeswoman Helen Aguirre Ferre said, "In Broward County, the three workers at the port work for the same company, in the same location, and tested positive for COVID-19." She says this means there's no random spread. OK, but there's also no indication yet as to how they contracted the disease. In the greater community, perhaps, then one infected the two others?
In a case of confirmed coronavirus in Manatee County, the state has not said publicly how the man might have contracted it.
Fauci cautions: "When you have community spread you're obviously going to ratchet up the kinds of mitigations that you have."
At least it should be obvious to Florida's governor.
But this has been the perilous problem in fighting the disease: politicians pushing back against science, against the experts, against medical professionals who actually know what we must confront. That puts Floridians in even more danger, despite their still-low risk of getting the coronavirus.
Unfortunately, it appears the lab coat DeSantis donned for a recent coronavirus photo-op has gone to his head.
