I returned from my vacation to Central Europe to discover that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has failed to contain the spread of monkeypox, despite contingency planning for a response to the related smallpox virus for decades.
This is no surprise, as the variant has been closely linked to sexual activity in the gay community and the annual gay pride parades look like they may have been “superspreader” events. In fact, despite being one of the biggest epicenters of COVID restrictions and mask mandates in the country, San Fransisco allowed its annual Kink Festival to proceed.
The Up Your Alley Fair often referred to simply as “Dore Alley Fair,” is an annual festival held on the last Sunday of July in San Francisco. First held in 1985, it is today one of the most prominent BDSM fetish and leather subculture festivals in the world. In contrast to the Folsom Street Fair, the world’s largest festival concerning the same fetishes, the Dore Alley Fair is notably skewed more toward gay men.
The number of reported cases is steadily rising, and unless different personal behavior choices are made among the impacted community members, the numbers will continue to climb.
The U.S. had reported more than 6,300 confirmed cases as of Tuesday, per the CDC. Highly-populated states are leading the numbers – with 1,617 confirmed cases in New York, followed by 826 confirmed cases in California.
Legal Insurrection readers may recall that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis followed the Trump administration’s guidance on the covid lockdowns and drew ire from the media and progressives (‘DeathSantis‘) for being one of the early lifters of the restrictions. As a result, Florida has been a haven for many fleeing Blue States, and DeSantis is often considered a strong contender in the 2024 presidential election cycle.
After seeing the harm covid lockdowns had on Florida, DeSantis is not rushing to declare a state of emergency over the monkeypox outbreak.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday attempted to downplay anxiety over monkeypox, saying that politicians and the media have overblown the severity of the disease and equated it to fears surrounding Covid-19.Florida had 525 monkeypox infections as of Tuesday, according to a state database, which is an increase from the roughly 350 infections from late last week. Florida had the fifth highest number of cases in the nation as of Monday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“I am so sick of politicians, and we saw this with Covid, trying to sow fear into the population,” DeSantis said during a press conference near Orlando. “We’re not doing fear.”….DeSantis also blasted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, for declaring a state of emergency over the outbreak, saying he was convinced it was a move to restrict people from freedom.“They’re going to abuse those emergency powers to restrict your freedom,” Desantis said. “I guarantee you that’s what will happen.”
According to recent reports, there are 525 monkeypox cases in Florida.
The bulk are in south Florida with Broward County leading the list with 237 cases. Miami-Dade comes in second with 135 cases.Orange County has 32 known cases. And the numbers drop substantially for the rest of central Florida. Four in Seminole, three in Lake and Osceola counties, and Volusia, Brevard and Flagler have one.
DeSantis’ push for freedom over fear resonates with voters, as noted in a reelection campaign ad.
The one-minute ad features both adults and children, with narrators reading out segments of their “Dear Governor” letters. The caption shared with the video adds that “these stories are the ‘why’ behind Governor DeSantis’s leadership and his fight for Floridians each and every day.”In the ad, Floridians thank DeSantis for his time in office as the Republican incumbent is seen reading the letters at his desk.“Dear Gov. DeSantis, I wanted to write and thank you for working so hard for the citizens of Florida. Dear Gov. DeSantis, I’ve never written a political leader, but I’m writing to express my appreciation for keeping us Floridians free and thriving,” various narrators say.
I suspect DeSantis and his public health team will find the optimum approach for dealing with monkeypox long before California, New York, or Illinois. I also project he will earn another round of #DeathSantis hashtags on social media.
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