Miami Beach mayor blames DeSantis after Florida sets record of COVID-19 cases

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber blamed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis after the state reported 21,683 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, its highest total on a day during the ongoing pandemic.

“We are not allowed to have mask warrants now, we were one of the first cities to require it and we charged a fine just to get people to do it. The governor stopped allowing us to doing it and we immediately saw an increase across our county and state when he did that, ”Gelber told CNN.

The Democratic mayor said city officials “are trying to do everything in our power to get around the governor’s very mistaken wishes.”

The state has become the new epicenter of the virus, accounting for about 20% of all new cases in the country. As the highly virulent Delta variant spreads across most parts of the United States, DeSantis, a Republican, has pledged not to institute mask warrants or additional lockdowns, often criticizing public health guidelines as being too extensive.

Friday’s record-breaking case figure, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday, shows how quickly cases can increase from a day earlier, when Florida reported 17,903 new cases. With vaccination rates, Florida ranks halfway among the states with about 60 percent of its population over the age of 12 vaccinated.

“The governor has made it as difficult as possible to keep people safe,” Gelber said. “He’s like the Pied Piper leading everyone off a cliff right now letting them know that they don’t have to like the CDC, that they don’t have to wear masks, that they can do whatever they want when we’re in the middle of a huge pandemic. “

DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring children returning to class in August to wear masks. In the face of backlash from health experts, the governor defended the move as one that would allow students to better focus on learning and improve the classroom experience. He also argued that there was no evidence to suggest that the masks stop epidemics among schoolchildren, which is contrary to CDC guidelines.

“I have young children. My wife and I aren’t going to mask the kids. We never have. We won’t. I want to see my kids smile. I want them to smile. ‘fun,’ he told a press conference. conference.

The governor, who seeks re-election in 2022, attributes the COVID-19 outbreak to a hot summer that saw people stay indoors with air conditioning, rather than outdoors where the virus is less likely to spread.

News week contacted the DeSantis office for comment.