CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Coronavirus cases continue to soar not only across the country but across the state. As of this morning, Florida reached a new high of close to 86,000 cases with over 3,000 deaths.
According to health experts, Florida could be the epicenter for the Coronavirus, but Robert Hawkes with Florida Gulf Coast university says there are a few other factors that could be related to the spike in cases.
“ I mean some of that can certainly be attributed to the increased testing, so therefore we have increased rates of people testing positive for COVID - 19. The other concern is that the only reason is that people are now out in the community and we’re now opening up other phases,” said Robert Hawkes, Director of the Physicians Assistant Program FGCU.
He stresses the importance of following all safety guidelines, but some have chosen not to and from a psychological standpoint Alise Bartley with F.G.C.U says people have simply had enough.
“We’re all tired of this just a couple of short months ago, we were able to do what we wanted to do every day, and we’ve lost a lot of power. So this is the way that people can take their power back by going ahead and being in a larger group and not wearing their masks” said Dr. Alise Bartley, Director of Community Counseling at FGCU.
Bartley says the term social distancing could be apart of the problem.
“It’s encouraging isolation, we need to the psychically distant from people not socially distant. Changing the language from social distancing to physical distancing could maybe impact how people are being respectful of the CDC guidelines” said Bartley.
Bartley also says most people are fearful about what's next.
“When we become afraid we find ways to take our power back, and one of the ways people are doing is not following the guidelines". said, Bartley.
