Escambia County’s administration tried to disprove the 10 COVID-19 deaths reported by the Florida Department of Health today, only to find the total is correct.
The county never questioned when the daily count was zero, but today wasn’t good news for those dismissing the pandemic so they started telling commissioners the data was inaccurate.
From their phone calls, the county found out that Ascension Sacred Heart had two deaths and none of the other hospitals had any to report.
When I was called about the number, I shared we had heard of several deaths at local nursing homes over the past few days.
We just received a phone call confirming the deaths were in long-term care facilities over a period of time. County officials are trying to confirm the dates — as if they really matters.
Through July 22, Escambia County has 73 COVID deaths – more than the 2019 annual totals for chronic liver disease (68), influenza and pneumonia (56), suicide (53), hypertension (46), Parkinson’s disease (31) and homicide (28).
It was shocking to me to become aware that Janice Gilley’s primary managerial tactic is blatantly lying (well, that and nepotism) months before coronavirus gave her the perfect opportunity to hone that skill to a science.
As long as she is administrator of the county, we will never have an adequate response to this virus. Period.
It doesn’t matter what the commissioners call for, vote on, or enact–she will not implement their wishes.
Case in point with Commissioner May calling for the testing of the inmates. In what universe does a County Administrator fail to carry out those wishes with a commissioner calling for it? She has blanket authority (far too much of it) during the state of emergency, and she gets *plenty* done without consulting them–well, except her best bud Doug, of course.
Now a commissioner is openly demanding the trustees in our prison system receive adequate healthcare, and her response is to continue to lie, and force her directors to fall in line with her abysmal performance. The only thing that could possibly help us in stemming whatever fallout we still can is to remove her and put this situation in the hands of a competent administrator who actually has a care for the health and safety of the residents of this county.
Janice Gilley and the Commissioner’s haven’t done a thing to mitigate the spread of the virus. In the 30 years I’ve been a Pensacola resident this is the worst County Administrator we’ve had.
What Janice Gilley is allowing to happen in the jail to hide the positive cases is inhumane. The women who wrote the letter asking for help need a human rights lawyer ASAP.
I am so disappointed in our County Administrator and most of the County Commissioners response to the covid crisis. I will continue to support businesses in the City and avoid spending time or money in the County. But that doesn’t stop the virus when the City is surrounded by the County and the County fails to care for the health and welfare of it’s citizens. Thanks to Commissioner Lumon May for putting the welfare of the citizens first.