Donald Trump campaigned at The Villages in Central Florida on October 23rd with a rally at which many people didn’t wear masks and no one socially distanced. This was the rally where Trump said, “COVID, COVID, COVID, on November 4th you won’t hear anything about it.”
Now, the website for The Villages is reporting as of Sunday a dramatic increase in COVID cases since the Trump rally. If you’re voting in person on Tuesday in Florida you may want to consider what happened.
Two more local residents have lost their battle with COVID-19 as the tri-county area reported an uptick in the number of new cases of the potentially deadly virus.
Both of the latest fatalities were residents of Marion County. The only one that was identified Sunday by the Florida Department of Health was a 56-year-old woman who tested positive July 23.
Twenty-seven new COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday in and around The Villages. Those include:
- The Villages (Sumter, Lake and Marion counties) up five for a total of 837;
- Leesburg up 12 for a total of 1,442;
- Lady Lake up three for a total of 386;
- Wildwood up two for a total of 467;
- Summerfield up two for a total of 450;
- Belleview up two for a total of 400; and
- Oxford up one for a total of 150.
Sumter County is now reporting 2,960 cases – an increase of 15 from Saturday to Sunday – among 1,677 men, 1,258 women, 13 non-residents and 12 people listed as unknown. A total of 208 cases have been reported in long-term care centers and 771 in correctional facilities. There have been 86 deaths and 290 people treated in area hospitals.
Just looking at these numbers makes you wonder how many cases have resulted from all the Trump rallies in the last week or more. But it’s not a coincidence that the numbers spiked in The Villages after Trump spoke, and exposed so many people to COVID. What’s not clear is why anyone down there would still vote for him knowing that his rally — and his blatant disregard for CDC rules– has resulted in illness and death.
Here’s the video of the rally. Look at those unmasked women behind Trump. I wonder if they’re among the new cases. Or deaths.
