Members of the EPG for Hillsborough County are faced with the question of how to handle rising COVID-19 cases along with the growing protests across the state.
The entire nation is facing protests as communities rally together to demand justice for George Floyd.
Gatherings with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people are sweeping across the world and while many of the protestors are wearing masks, social distancing is nearly impossible at the rallies. With the number of positive COVID-19 cases on the rise, it bodes for a further spike in neighboring countries following the week of protests in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Lakeland and Plant City.
Prior to the first protest, the members of the Emergency Policy Group voiced their concern over the increase in numbers. As of Monday’s report, Florida reported there had been 667 new cases of coronavirus with the total reaching 56,830 in the state with nine new deaths. By Wednesday that number had risen to 58,764.
There were 239 new cases with three deaths from Sunday to Monday alone in Tampa Bay. COVID-19’s true power lies in its unprecedented ability to affect others at such a fast rate. And with the growing theory that a large portion of the public is asymptomatic and thus passing it on to those they come in contact with without realizing they’re even sick, its contagion rate is a massive hurdle for the medical experts to clear.
Then you have its effect on those who do develop symptoms. Its respiratory carnage is difficult for patients to combat and thousands have died in Florida alone. When COVID-19 enters the body it makes its home in the mucous membranes that line the nose, eyes and mouth. By entering a healthy cell, it can essentially take it over by force, multiply and infect nearby cells.
Next thing you know, it has burrowed its way into your airways, irritating and inflaming the respiratory tract. In some of the most severe cases the virus has even infected down to the alveoli — the air sac in the lungs that allows for gas exchange.
All the while, your immune system is on the defense fighting with inflammation and swelling to attempt to combat the intruder. You develop flu-like symptoms and the inflammation in your lungs is often able to be seen on an x-ray.
If you’re lucky, this is where the virus stops and your immune system wins the battle. However, so far approximately 14 percent of COVID-19 cases enter the “severe phase.” In this phase the battle enters its second wave and infection sets in, filling the lungs with fluid and debris. This is usually paired with pneumonia. In short, you’re struggling to breathe.
In critical cases, approximately five percent, your lungs are so battle-scarred they are now home to serious damage in the walls and linings of the air sacs. Fluid continues to rise and ventilators are used to attempt to keep air flowing through your system.
And this is just what medical experts currently know. New information is being released on a weekly basis.
So county leaders quickly became distressed during the EPG meeting Thursday afternoon when medical experts shared the start of the rise of COVID-19 once more. And that was before the first protest was held.
It is the right of all American citizens to have the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech. While the details of which protests are permitted and which are not lie with local government, the reality is rallies have become the foundation of American social activism. Protests have repeatedly proven throughout history that only when the people stand up and demand change will politicians adhere to their requests. Look at the end of segregation. Look at the women’s rights movements — both for suffrage and the second wave. Look at the push for equality for members of the LGBTQ+ community. And while on nearly all fronts there are still massive leagues to trek toward true equality, many of the successes that were won came on the heels of a nationwide stand.
So, politicians in Hillsborough County have not yet banned the protests that are popping up.
But it does set the ground for the larger questions: what will the county’s COVID-19 numbers look like in a week? In two weeks?
It’s a topic the EPG will more than likely be forced to address in the coming weeks.
The EPG is scheduled to meet virtually again this Thursday at 1:30 p.m. You can watch the discussion on the county’s Facebook and Youtube pages.
