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Ron DeSantis
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2020-08-21
Calls for plasma in COVID fight conflict with decades-old restriction on blood donations
The frustration of many within the LGBTQ+ community over blood donations has been especially pronounced in the middle of the pandemic. The FDA recently moved the requirements for gay men to be abstinent from 12 months to 3 months. Activists and others point out that because blood can be screened for HIV, and that the rules are outdated and don't make sense. It is tragic that those who are capable of donating blood in this moment of crisis are unable to do so based on these current regulations. It brings back images of gay men that tried to donate blood after the Pulse nightclub massacre, but were turned away. -
2020-07-05
Florida surges to top global hotspot
Florida cases have been surging, and have just passed 200,00. The trajectory of the state is currently on track to be the worst of all US states. Canada, with over 10 million more people, has around half the cases. The state remains mostly open. It seems that a handful of US states have taken over the headlines for worst hotspots. Florida leads these states as the worst of the worst in terms of new cases surging. When comparing Florida to countries with similar or even notably larger populations, the difference is striking. I included this tweet to highlight the reopening vs continued lockdown approaches of Florida and Canada. -
2020-06-18
Calls for Early Release in Florida Jails as COVID-19 Cases Grow
Activists and prison reformers have been calling for inmates that do not pose a public safety risk and have either served most of their sentence, are elderly, or who are at high risk for covid complications due to pre-existing conditions to be released early. Advocates believe this not only helps the prisoners from contracting or even dying from covid but it also protects the larger community. While many jurisdictions/states have released inmates early Florida's governor has thus far refused. -
2020-06-15
City Enters Phase 4 of Pretending Coronavirus is Over
Back in March and April, governors juggled simultaneous stay-at-home orders and subsequent re-opening plans to minimize the dual threats of COVID-19 and economic recession. Reopening plans came with phases; Each phase had specific numbers that had to be met, such as percent decline in new cases, an r0 below 1, and especially increased testing capabilities. A horrific and cruel pattern of inaction emerged, and by the time May rolled around, many states were unable to meet even the earliest guidelines to begin reopening. After squandering precious time to fight the virus, many governments-- included in states like Florida and Arizona-- reopened the economy, declaring the pandemic over and the economy booming. As of today, June 22nd, Florida has over 100,000 COVID cases and Arizona just over 50,000. Both states have reported single day increases of over 3,000 and rank among some of the worst coronavirus hot spots in the world. This screenshot of an Onion article uses satire and dark humor to capture this tragedy. If governors like Ron DeSantis and Doug Ducey had taken the threat of COVID seriously and followed the guidelines for reopening, they could have saved tens of thousands of lives. If President Donald Trump had used his power to manufacture more tests or PPE, he could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Instead, our leaders failed us, manipulating the numbers or ignoring the numbers altogether, simply proclaiming the pandemic over because they wished it to be so. This satirical article would almost be funny, but it's not. It's not funny. It's infuriating, heartbreaking, macabre; It's so many things but none of them make me feel like laughing.