MIAMI – The mayors of six cities are urging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to take aggressive action to stop the sudden spread of COVID-19.
They are still waiting to hear back.
“The governor needs to implement a statewide mask mandate,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “Across the country, governors of every political stripe are doing it.”
Florida mayors from both sides of the political aisle are calling on DeSantis to lead as COVID-19 cases surge in the state.
They are urging specific actions from mask mandates, more access to state testing facilities and much-improved contact tracing, but instead they say they are getting zero communication from Tallahassee.
“It makes no sense that instead of working united, there’s been no communications,” said Hialeah Mayor Carlos Hernandez.
“The positions that the governor has taken thus far have made our jobs really difficult,” added St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Each of the local leaders said things got worse when DeSantis stripped local governments of the ability to enforce guidelines, such as limiting capacity and mandatory mask usage.
“Testing sites have been closed in our community that were state run, and our Department of Health is trying to make up the gap, but our private partners in the health care industry are telling us they can’t keep up,” said Sunrise Mayor Mike Ryan.
Mayor Gelber has already called out the governor for embracing junk science about letting the virus run rampant through communities, leading to unnecessary deaths. Now these mayors are banding together, asking DeSantis to act.
“Give us the tools that we need to get to this vaccine with the fewest amount of deaths and hospital visits,” said SOMEONE.