LaMarca: Coronavirus Cruise Ship's "failure of leadership" Threatens South Florida

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, Miami-Dade County and Broward County have seen rising cases of people that are infected. This week, Florida Rep. Chip LaMarca (R) took part in a conference with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R), and the governor suggested that it would be a grave mistake to allow more sick people into South Florida. The comments pertain to stopping Holland America from docking at Port Everglades.

In response, Rep. LaMarca released a statement, commenting on the Governor’s suggestion.

“While I agree with Commissioner Udine that this ship needs a plan to treat sick passengers,” the Florida lawmaker expressed. “Port Everglades should not be the only solution offered,” he admitted.

LaMarca detailed that “there are a multitude of other options that should be in our playbook, from nearby U.S. Naval Ports to seaports in much less populated communities.”

He added that “Holland America made the reckless decision to begin their voyage knowing that we were in a global pandemic.” In turn, “company leaders recently took to writing an op-ed in our local newspaper claiming that the pandemic got worse after they set sail.” To this, the Florida Rep. questioned, “then why not end the cruise at the next port of call in early March?”

He signaled that “this failure of leadership could spread the virus to our first responders and port personnel still operating essential functions at Port Everglades, and inevitably to others in our county and state.”