Replies to post #388257 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Instagram posts
stated on October 10, 2021 in an Instagram post:
"The media is pretty quiet
about Florida's decline in
COVID cases. No mask
mandates or vaccine
mandates."
Public Health Florida Facebook Fact-checks Coronavirus Instagram posts

"Florida fines county $3.5 million after employees fired for not getting COVID-19 vaccine"


A nurse gives a Florida International University student a COVID-19 vaccine shot, Aug. 24, 2021. (AP)

By Tom Kertscher October 15, 2021

Media reported for weeks on drop in Florida COVID-19 cases, which followed surge

If Your Time is short

* News media have reported for weeks on the recent decline in COVID-19 cases in Florida.

* Florida does have measures that restrict mask mandates in schools and limit requirements to show proof of vaccination. But the decline in cases occurred only after Florida led the nation, and Florida still ranks among states with the highest case rate.

See the sources for this fact-check
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/15/instagram-posts/media-reported-weeks-drop-florida-covid-19-cases-w/#sources

Conservative podcast host Joey Saladino .. https://www.instagram.com/saladinojoseph/ .. took a shot at the media while touting a decrease in COVID-19 infections in Florida.

"The Media is pretty quiet about Florida's Decline in COVID cases. No Mask Mandates or Vaccine Mandates," Saladino wrote on Instagram, where he has 148,000 followers.

The Oct. 10 post .. https://www.instagram.com/p/CU3Hy_dBpoQ/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=989c3c05-9228-4ac8-a23b-b2ab997179e8 .. included a chart, with data attributed to the New York Times, indicating that the rate of daily cases of COVID-19 in Florida had dropped sharply starting in late-August 2021.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership .. https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536?helpref=related .. with Facebook.)

The news media have reported for weeks on the drop in cases — which occurred only after a period in which Florida led the nation in new cases. Moreover, while it does have measures restricting mask and proof of vaccination mandates, it still ranks among the states with the highest case rates.

Restricts mask mandates, vaccination proof

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has signed COVID-19 measures to prohibit requirements to prove vaccination in certain places and to ban mask mandates in schools.

In May, DeSantis signed a bill .. https://www.flsenate.gov/Committees/BillSummaries/2021/html/2481 .. that prohibits requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination to gain entrance to, or services from businesses, governmental bodies and educational institutions. Violators are subject to a $5,000 fine per violation. On Oct. 12, the state fined .. https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/10/12/florida-fines-county-35-million-for-mandating-vaccines/ .. Leon County, home to the capital, $3.5 million for requiring its employees to get COVID-19 vaccines and for firing 14 workers who failed to get the shots.

In July, DeSantis issued an executive order .. https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Executive-Order-21-175.pdf .. to ban mask mandates in schools. So far, it has .. https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Executive-Order-21-175.pdf .. prevailed .. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2021/09/10/for-now-desantis-order-on-school-masks-will-stand-appeal-court-rules/ .. in court challenges. The order states .. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/aug/10/ron-desantis/desantis-executive-order-misleading-about-lack-sci/ .. that schools cannot mandate that their students wear masks and that the state can deny funding to districts that don’t comply. On Oct. 7, the state Board of Education voted .. https://www.tampabay.com/news/education/2021/10/07/florida-board-okays-sanctions-for-8-school-districts-over-mask-rules/ .. to sanction eight school districts, exposing them to potential funding cuts, because the districts allow parents to decide whether the students wear masks.

COVID-19 cases declining from highs

COVID-19 cases in Florida are decreasing — but from staggering heights.

In late July, we rated Pants on Fire .. https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/27/erin-marie-olszewski/claim-rising-florida-covid-19-numbers-are-hype-pan/ .. a claim that reports of Florida’s cases being up were "a blatant lie." Florida accounted for more than one-fifth of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. at the time and recorded more COVID-19 deaths than any other state. The seven day-average positivity rate for testing rose from 0.83% on June 11 to 24.3% on July 25.

In each of the past six weeks, counts of new cases have declined sharply, according to the latest figures .. http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/comm/_partners/covid19_report_archive/covid19-data/covid19_data_latest.pdf .. from the Florida Health Department.

There were 151,789 new cases during the week starting Aug. 20 and 25,792 during the week starting Oct. 1.

But Florida still ranks high in the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 1 million population, according .. https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/cumulative-covid-19-cases-and-deaths/?currentTimeframe=0&selectedDistributions=covid-19-cases-per-1000000-population&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22COVID-19%20Cases%20per%201,000,000%20Population%22,%22sort%22:%22desc%22%7D .. to the Kaiser Family Foundation. As of Oct. 14, North Dakota was first, at 183,176; Florida was fifth, at 167,728; the U.S. average was 135,767.

Our Google searches found that the decline has produced headlines like these for weeks, though primarily in Florida media:

[Links for each below inside]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "COVID in Florida: 3974 new cases as steep drop continues," Oct. 6

WPLG-TV in South Florida, "Florida COVID cases dip to lowest since early July," Sept. 28, 2021

Palm Beach Post, "COVID cases across Florida drop by 40% since last week; pandemic fatalities also down," Sept. 24, 2021

Fox 13 TV in Tampa Bay, "'Work to be done' as Florida's COVID-19 numbers continue decline from summertime peak," Sept. 20, 2021

Tampa Bay Times, "Florida schools shift pandemic protocols as new cases decrease," Sept. 20, 2021

The Associated Press news service, "New daily virus cases in Florida is lowest since July," Sept. 18, 2021

Fortune magazine, "Florida sees new COVID cases drop by 47% in the past two weeks," Sept. 16, 2021

Action News TV in Jacksonville, "Florida’s COVID cases drop again," Sept. 13, 2021

CBS 12 TV in West Palm Beach, "New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations drop in Florida," Sept. 7, 2021

Our ruling

An Instagram post stated: "The media is pretty quiet about Florida's decline in COVID cases. No mask mandates or vaccine mandates."

News media have reported for weeks on the recent decline in COVID-19 cases in Florida.

Florida does have measures that restrict mask mandates in schools and limit requirements to show proof of vaccination. But the decline in cases occurred only after Florida led the nation, and Florida still ranks among states with the highest case rate.

The statement contains only an element of truth. We rate it Mostly False.

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/oct/15/instagram-posts/media-reported-weeks-drop-florida-covid-19-cases-w/

[blackhawks]

New study shows vaccine refusal's staggering cost in human life

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/10/15/2058232/-New-study-shows-vaccine-refusal-s-staggering-cost-in-human-life

Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Friday October 15, 2021 · 9:34 AM EDT

COVID-19 is now the second-leading cause of death in the United States, despite the availability of safe, effective, and free vaccines. The promise of those vaccines showed itself when they first became widely available and COVID-19 dropped to be seventh on the list of causes of death. Then came the delta variant, and the levels of vaccination in the U.S. were not enough.

That proved deadly: A new study concludes that 90,000 deaths could have been avoided over a period of four months, from June through September, if more people had gotten vaccinated.

COVID-19 was the top cause of death in the U.S. for a period in late 2020 and early 2021, beating out the usual reliable No. 1 of heart disease. But by June, COVID-19 had dropped below cancer, accidents, stroke, and other respiratory illnesses—down by Alzheimer’s. Not anymore.

In September, according to the estimate released by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation, COVID-19 was the top cause of death for people aged 35 to 54, second on the list for people 25 to 34 and 55 to 64, and third for people 65 and older. It was fourth for people aged 15 to 24, sixth for children 5 to 14, and seventh for children 1 to 4. The under-12s are still waiting for a vaccine to be authorized, but for everyone else, that didn’t need to happen.

More than half of the 90,000 preventable deaths—49,000 of them—occurred in September alone. Deaths declined somewhat in early October, but we’re still talking about a seven-day average over 1,600 deaths per day. Most of them preventable.

Meanwhile, Republicans are making opposition to vaccine mandates a core part of their party identity, above even fealty to corporate power. In this new study, we see the deadly cost of that stance.