This week’s cover features a photo of Santa Rosa Beach attorney Daniel Uhlfelder, dressed as the Grim Reaper as he protests Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to reopen the state’s beaches. As blog fodder, the image perfectly gets the point across. But when I saw it as a proof for page one of this—the eighth issue Creative Loafing Tampa Bay has put on stands since laying off more than half its staff—the picture felt a little jarring. Death, presiding over a bluebird day on Florida’s coastline, is intimidating. Maybe another still—like the one above of a man in downtown Tampa doing his best to stay protected—would be better. But let’s face it: Death is on our minds as we ease into Gov. Ron DeSantis’ first phase of reopening the state.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,536 people have died statewide as a result of coronavirus; 113 of those fatalities were recorded on Tuesday alone, a single day record for new deaths. The report marks the first time Florida reported more than 100 deaths in a single day. Thanks to insufficient testing and sketchy tabulations, many health experts think the national coronavirus body count (68,922 as of Tuesday morning) is far lower than the true death toll.
But armchair economists with Gadsden flag undies (plus reasonable people, including countless laid off service workers) have the slow death of the local economy on their minds, too.
Death, no matter which one you’re thinking of, is frightening. But one involves human life, and the other involves a financial structure that can arguably be rebuilt. If you value bank balance numbers on a spreadsheet more than a human life, well, you probably want to stop reading.
Whether they like it or not, policymakers have the tough task of respecting both sides. And like it or not: We’re doing this reopening thing.
It’s happening at restaurants, attractions like the zoo and aquarium and even some record stores. Publix, which reported $11.2 billion in sales over the first fiscal quarter of 2020, never closed, but employees still don’t have hazard pay (p. 9). Hospitals—where healthcare workers will be exposed to more COVID-19 as they’re tasked with taking care of the increased coronavirus caseload—are even adding nonelective procedures now that the curve has flattened.
We can make light of the rush to reopen and make bold pronouncements against it like attorney Uhlfelder is doing but let’s not forget some of the things we learned during these two months of quarantine. Wash your hands, cover your face, and stay home if you can. If your cerebral cortex won’t let you eat takeout at home, then at least live your vida loca at a local spot and tip well.
Above all, don’t forget to be kind to each other, because let’s face it: We’re all scared of something nowadays.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in May 7-13, 2020.