As COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations — and, to a lesser but still present extent, deaths — grow across Florida, the Biden administration has stepped in to provide support to Floridians, according to reports. Amid the latest surge of the virus, which has been driven by the so-called delta variant of the pathogen, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has remained opposed to even basic safety measures like mandates to wear face masks. Florida has shot past every single other state in average daily hospitalizations with COVID-19, but DeSantis has remained unmoved. Now, however, CNN reporter Amara Walker has confirmed that federal authorities provided hundreds of ventilators to Florida — apparently without the direct knowledge of DeSantis himself, if the governor is to be believed.
On CNN, Walker commented as follows on Wednesday:
‘Despite what Governor Ron DeSantis says, we know from a health administration official that 200 ventilators were sent to Florida earlier this week from the Strategic National Stockpile, and if you just look at the numbers, and hear the anecdotes, what’s happening here in Florida is just really concerning. It is seeing one of the highest hospitalization rates in the country. We know according to the Florida Hospital Association that nine out of ten ICU beds are currently taken, and this was as of last Friday, so perhaps those numbers may have gone up by now.’
Walker added that certain children’s hospitals have also been struggling recently. Watch Walker’s comments on CNN below:
After a previous report that ventilators had been sent to Florida from federal authorities — who tend to operate, generally speaking, on behalf of the president — DeSantis claimed to have been unaware of such a development. DeSantis said that he “did not know about that” but “would honestly doubt that that’s true.” Has DeSantis been paying attention to the news out of his own state? As of this Wednesday, The New York Times reported an average daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations at over 13,800 in Florida, higher than any other state, and as of this Wednesday, the latest single-day data (which would apparently be for Tuesday) showed a total of over 15,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations in the state, Forbes explains. DeSantis has been sued by a group of Florida parents over an order he recently signed seeking to block local school districts from imposing mandates to wear face masks.
