Florida’s surgeon general wants less COVID testing. Miami ignored him in droves | Editorial
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo on Monday: People have gone overboard on COVID testing. We have to “unwind the testing psychology.”
Miami-Dade County, also on Monday: There are 70,236 of us who want to be tested, the highest number yet.
It was a victory for common sense — for once! — and we are here for it.
The Harvard-educated doctor, hand-picked by Gov. Ron DeSantis, tried to wave away COVID testing as unnecessary, saying at a news conference, “It is really time for people to be living, to make the decisions they want regarding vaccination, to enjoy the fact that many have natural immunity.”
He advocated for “low-value” and “high-value” testing, as a way of differentiating who is more vulnerable and should be tested. We wonder where he would draw that line.
He seems to have forgotten that COVID can kill. And that we are in a record-breaking surge because of omicron. And that maybe, just maybe, some people would prefer not to infect their co-workers and children and elderly and immune-suppressed family or friends. They might actually want to protect them from a serious illness. Wild, right?
But this is the same person who refused to put on a mask in a state senator’s office during the pandemic, even though she told him she had a serious medical condition. He said he had a hard communicating clearly in a mask, an odd thing to say for a doctor who presumably has had to wear surgical masks while communicating clearly in the past.
The senator was getting breast cancer treatment. He later offered something of an apology saying he didn’t mean to disrespect anyone.
Ladapo is doing what DeSantis hired him to do. He, like the governor, is trying to downplay the pandemic. Nothing to see here!
The difference is that he’s the one with the medical degree.
And he’s doing it as COVID transmission rates in South Florida hit an eye-popping 28% or more. And after more than 62,000 Floridians have died.
What he’s recommending — less testing — would put blinders on public-health officials and the public in general. Tests tell us where there are COVID hot spots. They tell us when to stay home from work. How would we assess risk for people in nursing homes and assisted living facilities? How would parents know how safe it was for their children to go to school?
Ladapo’s words are all about selfishness and callousness. We’re glad more than 70,000 Miami-Dade residents can still summon up an ounce of compassion for others.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 4:40 PM.