RESIDENTS WIN! Cape Coral residents win their battle, defeating the mask-mandate mob, for now

Cape Coral residents burst into rounds of applause during public comment, defying the Southwest Florida mask-mandate mob and their push for a mandatory mask ordinance on the agenda for yesterdays' city council special meeting.

You won't read this level of reporting in the Snooze section of local Southwest Florida Snooze outlets.

A round of applause to shouts of "We Are Winning!" exploded in chambers as one resident told council to read the disclaimer on the side of a standard face mask box ---this product is an ear loop mask, this product is not a respirator and will not provide any protection from COVID-19 or any other viruses or contaminates." 

Another Cape resident told council "you want to say this is all about public safety--let's examine what the government has considered SAFE for us. 

So far the idea of safety (in the view of the government) has been to lock us away, scare us to death , shutter all non-essential businesses, keep us from family, friends & loved ones, highly suggest we subject ourselves to obstruct our breathing, keep us from sunshine and fresh air, close our parks & beaches, close schools, divide us on race, class, culture, ideas and tell us the ONLY way back to normal is to comply with measures that their experts change on a near daily basis..."

One local Southwest Florida news station refused to link to a memo issued to Mayor Coviello and council members by Unified Command, essentially hiding it from their readership; County Examiner has it here.

The coalition, comprised of the city manager, chief of police, fire chief and public works director signed onto a memo strongly recommending the use of face coverings per CDC guidelines rather than imposing civil penalties and/or criminal charges for individual violators.

The memo further explained any ordinance mandating masks would place law enforcement in the untenable situation of escalated distrust in the police at a time when law and order must prevail.

From the memo:

"The enforcement of the mandate would potentially place our Police Department, as well as Code Compliance, in precarious situations at a time when our nation's expectations of law enforcement are being challenged. These potentially adverse encounters could escalate into arrest situations and reflect negatively on our positive relationship with our community."

One Southwest Florida news outlet couldn't even be bothered to report the Cape Coral city council vote count. When the official meeting minutes are posted, County Examiner will report the vote details.

UPDATED: Vote count - motion to approve failed 5-3

Welsh: No
Williams: No
Cosden: No
Gunter: No
Stout: No

Coviello: Yes
Nelson: Yes
Carioscia: Yes

Dear Hospitals: please rethink your bans on visitors for female patients

Well intentioned policies to designed to keep female patients safe in hospitals may have the opposite effect.

Media outlets are publishing the details of precautions South Florida hospital administrators are implementing to keep non-COVID 19 patients "safe" from exposure to the coronavirus. A recent Miami Herald article reported the precautions of four South Florida hospitals include suspension of visitors (with a few, limited exceptions). 

While this policy of barring family, friends, husbands, boyfriends, relatives from visiting their female relatives, spouse or partner in the hospital portends to keep the female patient "safe" from exposure to COVID-19  the policy may well have the unintended effect of exposing the female patient to the risk of sexual assault and rape from male hospital employees.

It's not like it hasn't happened before. In Florida.

In February 2020 a 30-year old physical therapist employed at a Tampa hospital was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a female hospital patient (emphasis mine):

TAMPA, Fla. — A 30-year-old physical therapist was arrested Monday after deputies say he was caught sexually assaulting a hospital patient. 

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said late Monday night, an alarm began to sound in the room of a 75-year-old patient at St Joseph's Hospital South. When a nurse went to check out a live feed from inside the room, she said she saw Regginald Jackson sexually assaulting the woman, according to the sheriff's office. 

Jackson is employed as a physical therapist at the hospital in Tampa, according to detectives. 

Detectives said they tried to question Jackson about the incident, but he refused to comment on the allegations.  

Jackson was charged with sexual battery and booked into the Orient Road Jail.

In January 2020 a former Cape Coral male nurse accused of raping a female patient was found guilty.

CAPE CORAL, FLA — UPDATE: The jury has found Jeovanni Hechavarria guilty on all counts of Sexual Battery. The State asked that Hechavarria remain in custody and the Judge agreed. 

He was sentenced to  30 years in prison.

It's not clear if these "no visitation" hospital policies were developed by the hospitals themselves or mandated by the state. In either case and as can often occur, policies that sound great; designed to "do good" by protecting people from one type of risk can cause more harm by exposing them to another.