According to new numbers released by the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC), Florida now has the lowest number of coronavirus cases in the nation, with just 75 for every 100,000 reported cases.
Florida, which has remained a bastion of individual liberty amidst a federal push for freedom-restricting vaccine mandates, is vastly outpacing the rest of the country in terms of Covid-related recovery. Led by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida has never instated any type of vaccination mandates or prolonged lockdowns.
Christina Pushaw, spokeswoman for DeSantis, tweeted Florida’s case rates.
In fact, DeSantis has spoken out in staunch opposition to vaccine mandates of any kind, stating that “No one should lose their job over these shots. I think we want to protect people’s jobs. These are folks that have been working this whole time…we considered them heroes just a year ago. Now we’re going to let them go by the wayside?”
In contrast, the state of Vermont has a case rate of 236 cases per 100,000 reported cases. The Vermont Department of Health’s case dashboard reports 224 new cases right now, despite the fact that 89.3 percent of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with over 965,000 doses administered in the state.
Proponents of draconian Covid lockdowns and vaccine mandates have criticized the Florida governor’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the Sunshine State has statistically shown lower Covid cases per county than in other places where tyrannical mandates have been instated.
For example, according to data collected by John Hopkins, Los Angeles County in California leads the nation in confirmed Covid cases, despite extremely strict, ongoing lockdown measures and vaccination mandates. The data seems to illustrate a connection between lockdowns and mandates and higher Covid case counts.
This week, Gov. Ron DeSantis called on the Florida Legislature to form a special session to pursue stronger protections for Floridians whose jobs are being threatened by federal government vaccine mandates.
“Your right to earn a living should not be contingent upon COVID shots,” he announced in a statement. “When the vaccines first came out, we worked very hard to provide it, particularly to our elderly, but we said from day one: we will make it available for all, but we will mandate it on none because ultimately we want individuals to make the determinations about what is right for them. I want a state in which people are able to maintain their livelihoods, earn a living, and provide for their families. And if the federal government or big corporations are hurting people, then we have a responsibility to step up and lead.”
It appears that Florida’s approach to fighting the coronavirus is working exceptionally well. Rather than relying on vaccines alone, DeSantis has also opened 21 monoclonal antibody treatment sites in Florida, providing an alternative to the coronavirus vaccines being distributed by the federal government.
The governor commented on the treatment sites, saying, “We’re doing thousands [of antibody treatments] every day. Just think, a lot of those folks … would have needed to be admitted to a hospital had they not had access to that treatment. It also makes sure that you’re not having admissions that continue to explode, that takes a lot of stress off the hospital.”
Having the lowest case count in the nation is something to be proud of as it sets an example for the rest of the country in potential approaches they could take to drastically reduce the number of Covid cases in each state.