The outbreak threw into doubt a sport whose return was a treasured reminder of normality, and raised questions about how schools and colleges -- which have many fewer resources -- would manage to convene in mere weeks.
The Marlins transmission was inevitable, said Roger Shapiro, associate professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “If you have a lot of interaction back and forth between the players and their surrounding community, it’s really just a matter of time before it gets from the community into the team,” he said.
Hand Washing
Florida, whose Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has resisted instituting most public health measures, was among the first states to see a spike of Covid-19 in June and July. Although Florida suspended bar drinking, the governor has allowed mayors, including Miami-Dade’s Gimenez, to order masks and restrict businesses.
The percentage of first-time positive tests has been declining, with the seven-day average falling to the month’s lowest level in the most recent report. Speaking alongside DeSantis at an event Monday at the University of Miami medical school, Vice President Mike Pence said the administration was encouraged by the “favorable trends here in Florida.”
They may not be enough, in Florida or elsewhere. Still, Tom Steyer, a former Democratic presidential candidate who is co-chairing California’s task force on economic recovery, said social distancing and masks are the least we can do.
“I’m not sitting here holding my breath for a vaccine,” Steyer, a hedge fund billionaire, said Monday in an interview. “There are a number of things that can change this that are not a vaccine.”