Florida governor gathers experts to validate COVID response

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A year after the COVID-19 outbreak temporarily shuttered much of the economy and plunged the nation into debates over masks and lockdowns, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis convened a hand-picked panel of health experts at his state Capitol on Thursday to help validate the actions he took against the pandemic.

One by one, the experts provided vindication for DeSantis, whose insistence on lifting lockdowns, reopening schools and undermining mask mandates came under scrutiny as the public health crisis unfolded.

The Republican's handling of the virus will no doubt be a key issue in next year's gubernatorial election, when DeSantis faces reelection.

The experts hailed from some of the world's most prestigious institutions but their views have been rebuked by many mainstream scientists, including U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, who last year called the anti-lockdown, pro-herd immunity push “nonsense.”

Thursday's panel echoed the governor's assertions that lockdowns and mask mandates did little to slow the spread of the virus — and might have even done more harm than good by damaging people's mental health and stoking fear among some to not seek medical help at the risk of exposing themselves to the virus.

“I think the lockdowns were the single biggest public health mistake,” said Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford Medical School, who helped write the Great Barrington Declaration — a petition that contends that lockdowns and other measures have spawned a host of unintended consequences that could have long-term impacts to public health.

The declaration's two other writers, Dr. Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University and Professor Sunetra Gupta of Oxford University, also joined the governor during Thursday's roundtable. Also joining was Dr. Scott Atlas, a...