After the past few nights of early morning 1:00 AM information drops from the Florida Department of Health’s twitter account, the department has finally released a new dashboard to handle the overwhelming amount of new cases being reported throughout the state.
The Department of Health has tried its best to stay on top of the latest information, dealing with a shortage of tests given to the state and an underwhelming amount of federal guidance on how to deal with COVID-19. As of March 13th, the state had only received 1000 of the initial 2500 tests it had originally ordered.
The Governor of Florida Ron Desantis, now playing catch-up with the state’s lack of response to the overwhelming outbreak, is stating that additional tests have been ordered to the state. Yet lack of leadership has allowed places like Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, the state’s largest magnet of tourists from all over the world, to hold large crowds as recently as Sunday night, despite the CDC’s continuous warning to limit crowds of 50 or more.
What seems like a reflection of Senate members taking a weekend off before taking on the nation’s pandemic, Florida has seemed to follow course in ramping up their response now that Monday has arrived. Their latest website finally shows a visual breakdown of the currently growing number of confirmed COVID-19 cases throughout Florida.
Assuming, however, the data is only showing those who have been fortunate enough to receive a test, it is a site that is sure to change over the following days.
For now, Florida remains behind schedule. As the overworked tourism industry employees begin to take a step back and visualize just how unprepared we are, blowback is sure to ensue. History will show just how unfortunate the state’s recent lackluster response was in handling the outbreak. While the public fends for itself all the while overwhelming multiple airports and struggling to decide on what’s real and what’s fake, it seems like many of us are sitting back and waiting to be told what we all already know. This will be a call for massive change in the United States of America, and at a high cost.
Current Walt Disney World College Program members are fighting to maintain housing after being told to leave by Wednesday, and a lack of guidance from multiple local restaurant franchises and tourist hubs have Service Industry employees conflicted on which leadership to trust in this crisis.
Their government… or their private industry employer.
To see the latest information from the Florida Department of Health and to view their new hub, you may visit their website.
