In the time period between my last FL COVID articles and now, things have gotten vastly worse – almost indescribable how high the body counts and other numbers have become. It safe to say most numbers doubled from the massive peaks of early August.
Estimates and Reports have Florida deaths peaking at over 450 per day – and, as I write this (9/21) that is a 14 day average! This marks, by far, the highest ever seen in Florida during the pandemic. A short discussion of “why” is in order.
The Reasons are simple – I wrote extensively about the Gov. failed vaccination program (wrong people vaccinated, not enough people vaccinated) – that, combined with bad behavior and poor leadership (the Gov. policy IS mass infection) mean even more death and suffering.
On cue, the defenders of the Gov. policies and the “Florida Way” have made up a number of new excuses. Did you expect them to cry “Uncle”? “We were wrong?” – of course not! There is never a situation that they cannot get SOME FOOLS to belive.
We might think they’d run out of excuses – or be embarrassed about putting new ones forward due to how wrong the old ones proved to be – this is not the case. They have put the best minds together – including Doctors and the Mass Infection Experts and have come up with a Novel Excuse for the Novel Virus which is killing more people in Florida than ANYWHERE – and is, by far the most deadly event in the Human History of the state.
Florida has Old People in it
Yes, folks, after 16 months of hearing how superior Florida was at handling disease – after bragging of “we are #1, then #5, then #10, then 1st 1/2, then middle…then “I found worse”, it’s now “Don’t you know, Florida has old people there? – old people die from COVID”
The first and very obvious response is that we hardly heard this mentioned for over a year – and now it is almost the single most used excuse! As with all propaganda (propaganda is not lies!), this contains a grain of accuracy. If we were to express the actual truth regarding this statement, it would be something like this “The sum of ALL the age and health related dynamics in Florida is that the extra 1 or 2% of older folks here makes no difference – and, in fact, it very well could be the other way around (a benefit). Here are some facts and discussions for those enjoying more of a deeper dive.
- There are other states as old or older than Florida – especially in certain categories (80+ or 85+, the most vulnerable). These include, but are not limited to, Maine, Vermont, PA, WV, RI and Delaware. Those who are detail orientated and do research – watch out….do not use 2010 Census data! Many of the other states which joined the “age” club have done so slowly over the past decade.
- Florida is NOT an Obese State – as we know, Obesity is one of the leading co-morbidities associated with COVID. Floridas good position here (likely because so many of us are FROM other healthier states and bring our health with us), probably itself cancels out years of age.
- Self-Selection – this is a big deal but one which very few think about. Older Floridians – many of them have retired here or moved here later in life. Those who have both the money and mobility to buy a 2nd house or to move are NOT the “average or below” person. As an example, a multi-generational family in NJ or NY or Chicago where the older members are often sick already at 60 – those people are not moving to Florida and playing tennis, golf and going sailing! The poor and lower middle class are generally forced to live and die where they already are. This self-selection means that Florida Seniors, as a full group, are likely much healthier and active than Seniors from many other places. This type of dynamic can cancel out MANY years – and, together with the lack of obesity (which is part and parcel of self-selection – 300lb seniors aren’t flocking to the tennis courts in FL) – offsets many years.
- Fewer of us are there when we don’t have to be – This Summer Surge is happening at the time of year when there are less people in Florida. Millions of us own 2nd homes there but also have a house or apartment somewhere else. ANYONE with the choice of not being in Florida during the Summer generally will take advantage of that choice. In fact, many Florida Residents (natives!) own 2nd houses in the Mountains of NC and similar locations and spend 6 months at their more northern home. This effectively depopulates seniors to the tune of 100’s of thousands – during this COVID massive wave.
Even if one had no common sense – and took zero stock in these dynamics – the “age adjusted” type of scenario could not be responsible for anything near the levels of death we have seen in Florida.
One dynamic I have not mentioned is that the entire “Florida Plan” involved the Gov. telling us he had a way of protecting the most vulnerable. Therefore, anyone using the excuse “they are old” should just as well be saying “DeSantis Lied About Protecting Seniors”.
It’s understandable that no one wants to take responsibility for this disaster in Florida. We seem to live in a time where it’s rare for leaders to do so. However, when the same leaders are involved in misinformation campaigns in order to “protect their brands”, it’s troubling. DeSantis admits favoring mass infection. OK, then, Ron – just say out loud “My policies were unable to protect Florida Seniors and now they have to pay the price”. That sounds much more accurate than “but they are old – and they have to die sometime!”.