Florida fines county $3.5 million for enforcing vaccine passports https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/12/politics/florida-covid-vaccine-mandate-leon-county-fined/index.html The county was in "blatant violation of the law," the state Health Department said in a statement, outlining a fine of $3,570,000 because the Leon County government had required employees to provide documentation of their Covid-19 vaccination and ultimately terminated 14 people for their refusal or failure to comply. The department noted "714 counts" in violation of the ban. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had cited freedom and privacy concerns as the primary basis for his vaccine passport ban in April, and later vowed to fine counties and cities in the state in violation of it. The fines underscore the Republican governor's broad resistance to the public health measures and mandates that experts say are key to curbing the pandemic and preventing future outbreaks. "It is unacceptable that Leon County violated Florida law, infringed on current and former employees' medical privacy, and fired loyal public servants because of their personal health decisions," DeSantis said in a statement Tuesday. "We will continue fighting for Floridians' rights and the Florida Department of Health will continue to enforce the law. We're going to stand up for Floridians' jobs, stand up for Floridians' livelihoods, and stand up for freedom." But Leon County Administrator Vincent Long told CNN in a statement, "The County strongly contends that our employee vaccination requirement was not only completely legally justifiable, but it was a necessary and responsible action to take to keep our employees safe, protect the public, and ensure our readiness as a frontline response organization." Long said that DeSantis' position "unfortunately appears to be less of a public health strategy and more about political strategy" and the county "fully intends to enforce its rights using any remedies available to settle all arguments about the applicability of the statute at issue." DeSantis' handling of the pandemic has positioned him at odds with President Joe Biden, who has elevated vaccine mandates as an important tool in the US' national response. "We're facing a lot of pushback, especially from some of the Republican governors. The governors of Florida and Texas are doing everything they can to undermine the lifesaving requirements that I've proposed," Biden said in a speech last month specifically calling out DeSantis and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas. "This is the worst kind of politics because it's putting the lives of citizens of their states, especially children, at risk. And I refuse to give in to it," the President said at the time. For DeSantis, his fight with the White House -- as is the case with the policies he pushed opposing mask mandates and lockdowns -- helps him with a narrow but politically powerful segment of the Republican Party, boosting his national prominence ahead of a 2022 reelection campaign and a potential 2024 presidential bid. But Biden and his top officials are keen to call out DeSantis' continued flouting of medical recommendations in the fight against the virus, believing that making him an example could encourage other governors to do more.
Look who is "offended". Maybe the families of all the dead Covid victims in Florida should be offended. 'I am offended': DeSantis vows to sue Biden over vaccine mandates https://www.politico.com/states/flo...ws-to-sue-biden-over-vaccine-mandates-1391834
DeSantis is drifting over into Cruz country with his faux outrages and suddenly caring about so many issues...
Current Covid stats : Canada 1.7M cases, 28,482 deaths ( pop 38M ) Florida 3.7M cases, 57,712 deaths ( pop 21M ) Last year I said to poster "Tsing Tao" that I was comfortable with Canada's approach to Covid; his reply was to suggest that Covid numbers were seasonal and Canada's numbers would 'catch up' to Florida's in the winter. He then posted all sorts of "concerned" posts about any outbreak stage in Canada, and a whole lot of bs excuses. Things like population density when Southern Ontario which is densely populated actually has better numbers then Canada. In fact, Alberta has the worst numbers in Canada ( the reasons being too many "conservatives" pretending Covid wasn't a problem ). Ignorance has no payoff. There is no do over on pandemics.
Just another example of DeSantis hiding the data. He has no shame when driving his fabricated political narrative. For 105 days, COVID’s death toll in Florida counties went missing https://www.tampabay.com/news/healt...-death-toll-in-florida-counties-went-missing/ For 105 days this summer, while COVID-19 deaths soared across the state, Floridians had no idea how many of their neighbors were dying. The Florida Department of Health knows how many people are dying in each county, but stopped telling the public on June 4. That’s when state officials stopped releasing daily pandemic data, switched to weekly reports and started withholding data once available to the public. Instead of including county deaths in its weekly reports, the state directed the public to find that information via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But the CDC relied on Florida’s online portal of COVID data — which the state also took down in June. The CDC’s tally of deaths for Florida went blank. The number of people dying in each Florida county went missing from June 4 through Sept. 17. Miscommunication has plagued the relationship between the state and federal agency since the start of the pandemic. (More at above url)
No mask mandates, no lockdowns, no vaccine mandates. How we doin' in Florida? Right! As expected. And now soon comes the winter. It'll all be DeSantis' fault up north now.
Is it the winter in Canada already? Its coming earlier and earlier every year! Also, please post where i said Canada would "catch up" to Florida. I remember saying Canada would go through another wave (and it will), but I specifically remember saying that you couldn't compare Florida and Canada because of population density and a whole host of other factors. Oh, and do you have me off ignore again? Is this the sixth time? Can't you make up your mind?