Full Beaches, Empty Promises: Florida’s COVID-19 Response Lacks Substance
When I first started talking seriously with friends and family about COVID-19, (aka Coronavirus disease caused by SARS-CoV-2), Florida had only seventy-seven cases. Weeks later, that figure turned out to be a mere peppercorn of what we are experiencing now, which is just shy of 5,000 cases and 60 deaths. A month ago, (which seems like an eternity today), people like me started calling on the State of Florida to close beaches and public venues to help slow the spread of the virus. These claims fell largely on deaf ears. Closing beaches in Florida is anathema. Nobody wants to be held responsible for removing access to the state’s most cherished public asset. Normally, I would admit defeat and detach myself from the losing narrative. But not this time. I won’t let this issue rest because for the last sixteen years, I have worked as an ocean rescue lifeguard, EMT, and law enforcement officer on the beaches of Volusia County, Florida. These are some of the same beaches our Governor, Ron DeSantis, has refused to close. Local leaders have followed his example, shirking their responsibility to keep us safe. As the former president of the lifeguard union and of the non-profit Volusia Surf Lifesaving Association, I have fought tooth and nail to protect beach access to the public. But, during this outbreak the time has come to end it temporarily. What I have witnessed in these last weeks, is confirmation of why the virus spreads so successfully in America: people refuse to stay home and so they spread their germs on to the rest of us. It’s infuriating.
Today, March 29th, I witnessed no less than 10,000 people crammed on the public beach. By 9:30 am, I received a call of a male masturbating in front of a young child. After that, it was water rescues, people getting drunk and/or high, and a mentally-disturbed transient with an arrest warrant. I’ll concede that this is not unlike a normal hot-weather weekend day on the beach, but that is precisely my point. In the face of the worst public health crisis of our lifetime, millions of people are unwilling to even alter their beach days in the name of keeping their communities safe. In the city where I live, the population is around 25,000 residents. But each weekend, about 50,000 people per day pour into the city to laze on our beaches and get smashed on whatever drugs and alcohol they’ve procured along the way. They cram into gas stations and grocery stores. They crowd public access points and park facilities. Public health advisories and social distancing protocols are largely ignored because they are unenforceable, and eveyone knows it. The end result is a veritable petri dish of potential infection points, and that high level of risk is flouted by public officials.
The reason the risk is ignored is because closing the beaches in Florida is politically unpopular. Closing anything in Florida is politically unpopular, and politicians don’t want to be blamed for an overreach if the crisis doesn’t turn out as being as severe as was thought possible. The inherent problem with this strategy is that if the crisis does turn out as bad as they say, lots of people will die. This does not seem like an even trade-off. And to hammer this point home, here’s a reference for COVID-19 cases in Florida alone:
- Figures from the Florida Department of Health:
March 22–1,007 positive cases
March 25–1,467 cases
March 25 (PM) — 1,682 cases
March 25 (late PM) — 1,977 cases
March 26 (am) — 2,355 cases
March 27 (am) — 2,765 cases
March 27 (pm) — 3,198 cases
March 28 (am) — 3,763 cases
March 28 (pm) — 4,038 cases
March 29 (am) — 4,246 cases
March 29 (pm) — 4,950 cases
It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see that the increase in cases is exponential, and when you take a good look around the sunshine state, it’s painfully obvious why we are experiencing geometric growth of COVID-19 cases. Beaches that are still open, like in Volusia County for example, are jammed packed. Airports are still open, and accepting hundreds of flights per day. The governor has refused to initiate a shelter-in-place order, although the state has one of highest rates of infection in the country. The governor has set up two checkpoints on I-10 and I-95, which he claims will net visitors from New Orleans and New York, respectively. Because New Orleans is 200 miles from the Florida border and New York is about 1,000 miles, these efforts seem like a political dog-and-pony show intended to mollify DeSantis’s detractors. When one considers the hundreds of flights still arriving each day, the checkpoints seem totally useless.
From the ongoing catastrophe in Italy, where more than 10,000 have died from COVID-19, we should have learned how dangerous half-assed responses can be. We should know that the earlier we take the situation seriously, the more effectively we can stop its spread. We should know that testing often and early is proven to stave off infection rates and flatten the curve. We should be doing these things, but for some mysterious reason, we’re not. The most rich and powerful nation in the history of the world is dropping the ball.
On March 16th, fifteen days after the State of Florida declared a state of emergency, the Volusia Waterman’s Association, which is the union for ocean rescue lifeguards, sent a scathing letter to Volusia County demanding that the beach be closed. The letter claimed that the county was “negligent in their inaction to limit crowds.” The letter also blasted the county for failing to protect the public and its own essential employees. The county responded by stating that the beach would stay open as normal, only to close it to vehicles a few days later amidst public outcry. A week later, the county began to limit parking capacity in its parks, and this sort of slow walk-back can be seen all over Florida. Politicians, government officials, and pundits have all started to gradually defect into the lockdown camp. It’s become clearer to many that there will be no political saving-face in the midsts of this crisis. However, things are still moving too slowly to be very effective.
Amidst the packed beaches under the ninety-degree sunshine, there are other problem areas, too. A megachurch in Tampa, called The River Church, continued to hold services on Sunday, despite warnings from the local health department. Hundreds of congregants packed into the crammed building. The church’s pastor, Rodney Howard-Brown, claims he’ll cure Florida of coronavirus through prayer — bullshit. He also cites the church’s first amendment rights to assembly. I want to be clear in my condemnation of these fundamentalist wackjobs, because they put every person in this state at risk. I want to be clear in my condemnation of local, state, and federal politicians, who seize-up and fail to act to keep their constituents safe. They are playing political games with people’s lives, and that is unforgiveable. It is plain and simple what needs to be done, and I heard it explained to me this way a few days ago, and it made total sense:
This virus cannot move on its own. People move it. If people stop moving, the virus cannot spread and eventually it will peter out. Got that?
Now, if you have plans to go to the beach, or to a church service, or any other place that is frequented by crowds, cancel them. YOU ARE BEING PART OF THE PROBLEM. It’s bad enough that grocery and hardware stores are completely mobbed and running out of essentials. The local Publix often looks like B-roll footage from a Hunger Games movie. In these public spaces where we procure our essential goods, like food and medicine, there is clear and present danger. It is unavoidable for most of us, but beach trips and church services are not essential. Here in Volusia County, arrogant county council member Deb Denys justified her vote to keep the beach open by claiming people need a “mental health break.” She doesn’t seem to care or understand that people are dying, and a lot more are going to die because self-serving politicians can’t or won’t do the right thing.
When I came home from working on the beach yesterday, I undressed in the garage and threw my clothes directly in the wash. I sanitized my vehicle and equipment. I tucked a small stash of gloves and respirators in the glove box of my patrol vehicle. Then I cracked open a cold beer and reflected on the absolute idiocy of the throngs of people lounging carelessly on our beaches. Whether it’s ignorance of disbelief — whatever people use to justify their defiance of CDC guidelines — it’s killing people, plain and simple. I implore you to do what’s best for your family, friends, neighbors and countrymen. Stay home.
