SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Seminole County’s Medical Director Dr. Todd Husty was preparing for up to 20,000 to come to Sanford for President Donald Trump’s campaign rally Friday, which was canceled after the president announced he and the first lady both tested positive for COVID-19.
“I’m personally not disappointed that he’s not coming because of that,” Husty said from a health perspective. “I feel badly for the reasons why he canceled this trip because he is at risk and that’s scary.”
Husty believes, however, there could be some lessons learned with the president’s confirmed case. Especially since Husty said one could argue Trump could be one of the most protected from the virus.
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“Because everyone around him is getting tested,” Husty said. “It kind of strikes all of a sudden wow, I mean if I can get it and I have some risk of death here, I need to be careful and everybody else needs to be careful.”
He said it could be a lesson learned not only for politicians, which he believes on both sides of the aisle could be stronger with their messaging when it comes to COVID-19.
“Masks are not political in the health care community,” he added.
But Husty believes it could be a wake-up call and a lesson learned for those who might be letting their guards down, especially here in Florida, where we are now in phase three and masks mandates can no longer be enforced with fines.
“It’s just letting our guard down and we can’t do that, the message has to be clear,” Husty said. “Just when you thought you were safe you are not. So it is disrespectful not to wear a mask for other people and we need to take that message home. This should be our wake-up call.”
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