Jackson Health union makes plea for statewide mask mandate in Florida

The union that represents 5,000 nurses and doctors at Jackson Health System called for a statewide mask mandate on Monday to curb the surging number of cases of the novel coronavirus across the state.

“We’re asking today for Governor DeSantis to become the leader we need him to be and stand up at this pandemic time and have...a strategic plan to battle COVID-19 and win,” Martha Baker, president of SEIU Local 1991 and a registered nurse, said during a virtual press conference.

Baker praised Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez for requiring masks in their communities and fining individuals who refuse to comply.

She said they are “doing the right thing in mandating masks and enforcing it.“

DeSantis has resisted pressure by some of Florida’s Democratic political leaders and medical officials for a statewide mask order. On June 27, DeSantis said that penalizing people for wearing masks “is something that would probably backfire.”

But for some members of the hospital staff at Jackson Health, who spoke Monday, masks are a simple measure to cut transmission and should be separate from politics.

“I just can’t tell you enough...This is just science, and our personal beliefs, our political beliefs, have nothing to do with this,” Dr. Dave Woolsey, a Jackson emergency room doctor, said. “If we wear masks, if we stay six feet apart from each other, if we wash our hands...we all get over this and we get back to our lives.”

Mask wearing has become a politically divisive issue in the state. Gimenez and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, both Republicans, have mandated masks be worn in public in their communities. And Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio urged everyone to “just wear a damn mask,” while Sen. Rick Scott said individuals do not need to be told to wear a mask in a Fox News interview from earlier in the month.

The union’s campaign for a statewide mask mandate comes as the number of cases in the state continue to rise. This weekend, Florida passed New York — once the epicenter of the pandemic — in total number of known cases of the virus, with the state reaching 423,000 total known cases and 5,972 deaths as of Monday morning.

Miami-Dade County, which has been a virus hot spot since the state started experiencing an uptick in cases earlier this month, reported 2,560 new cases and 16 new deaths on Monday, bringing the county’s total to 107,315 confirmed cases and 1,404 deaths. As of Saturday, Miami-Dade County was in the red zone on the trajectory of daily case counts over a 14-day period, according to the county’s New Normal Dashboard update. On Sunday, South Florida accounted for about half of all new cases in the state.

In addition to urging DeSantis to order masks statewide, the union also launched an online video campaign to encourage the public to wear masks and on how to properly wear one.

Jackson Health has canceled elective surgeries and set up tents outside the emergency rooms to triage patients in an effort to keep pace with patients being admitted. But healthcare workers are growing exhausted, according to Maria Sulayman, a registered nurse in the medical intensive care unit who was out sick with COVID-19 for almost five weeks and has since recovered.

“All of my staff members, all of my coworkers, [are] completely overwhelmed, completely exhausted and desperate,” Sulayman said.

A statewide order is necessary to control the spread of the virus, she said. “A lot of us are getting sick and it’s just spreading like a wildfire. Just as simple as just wearing a little mask can help so much...just do what you can to protect your healthcare and your nurses and your doctors,” Sulayman said. “I can’t say it enough. It’s really necessary and we’re desperate for it.”

This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 5:12 PM.