In response to the 1 year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a pandemic, COVID-19 expert, Dr. Anthony Harris. hosted a press conference yesterday to discuss what has and will happen as COVID ensues.
Dr. Harris has been a reputable name during the pandemic and is the Chief Innovation Officer & Medical Director of WorkCare, a physician-directed occupational health company. WorkCare has previous experience with global outbreaks, as they advised on the SARS outbreak and H1N1.
Dr. Harris kicked off the press conference, mainly focusing on equity, claiming that the spikes we see in COVID cases are, "socio-economically based." According to Dr. Harris, this is due to exposure levels being higher among lower-class groups.
Harris simply puts it, "risk is going to be higher than somebody who is working either from their cubical or from home."
The Floridian asked Dr. Harris about his thoughts on Florida's relatively loose opening plan compared to other states like New York. Harris stated the following:
"In states like Florida, you have the variants there, you got to look at the numbers. Reopening in a state like that [Florida], I believe will lead to potential increases in transmission."
Dr. Harris was not ignorant to the "economic pressures" in Florida as he claims that "Entertainment is big, people come in because you have no state tax, I get it, economic pressures are tremendous."
Another trend of Dr. Harris' press conference also revolved around socio-economics where he criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' (R-FL) vaccine prioritization.
Dr. Harris also made remarks on Texas' recent controversial reopening claiming, "We're likely to see what played out in Brazil, our numbers spike."
The Floridian then asked Harris about who should be prioritized in DeSantis' vaccine distribution. Harris stated, "If we keep at who's at higher risk from dying at COVID-19, guess which demographics bubble to the top? Blacks and Hispanics."
Outside of Florida, Dr. Harris also endorses double masking, "if done correctly...it is the way to go."
