Where’s DeSantis? Gov silent as state’s COVID-19 cases rise

Florida is in the midst of another spike in COVID-19, with 4,600 positive cases reported Monday by the state.

That number was over 10,000 on Sunday, the highest in Florida since July.

Only one state in the country isn’t experiencing a rise in cases, and Sunday night, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams issued a warning: “Our … your communities and hospitals simply can not sustain high-level care at this rate of increase.”

But Tallahassee remains quiet about COVID-19.

The last time Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference was Nov. 4, when he bragged about how the state counted its votes. Since then, Florida has seen COVID-19 cases rise and positivity rates almost double.

“It’s embarrassing how little we have seen Governor Ron Desantis during this pandemic,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), who is rumored to be ramping up a run for governor.

She believes DeSantis’ silence is strategic.

“Governor Ron DeSantis wants to avoid questions about the presidential election,” she said.

Even in the face of Eta, which brushed our coast as a hurricane and made landfall as a tropical storm, DeSantis didn’t make a statewide address.

“That’s probably one of the biggest reasons why Floridians even know our governors is that when there are natural disasters, we turn toward the state for guidance,” Eskamani said.

Lee County Republican Party Chairman Jonathon Martin feels differently about the governor’s silence during the storm.

“The governor was great. He called for a state of emergency for the counties that were going to be affected and basically allowed those local entities and communities to be his eyes and ears on the ground,” he said.

Martin also said COVID-19 cases in Florida are largely under control.

“When Governor Desantis was originally holding his daily briefings, there was a lot of uncertainty.”

WINK News reached out to DeSantis during Hurricane Eta. When his office didn’t respond to our multiple emails, we took to social media to ask him to address the people of Southwest Florida. We also reached out to talk about this story, but we’re still waiting to hear back.