UPDATE: Dr. Fauci says Rumpole is right!
In a Facebook interview with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy Dr. Fauci said this:
Another reason to wear a mask: "There's good enough data to say that aerosol transmission does occur," Fauci told Murphy, meaning the virus can hang around in the air "for a period of time," instead of falling to the ground in larger droplets.
UPDATES: We have two three. First check our Judge Faber's hard-hitting response to our post in the comments section. And in response we link to this NY Times article about the politicization of the FDA approval process for a vaccine. And 3rd a little birdy whispered to us the new Supreme Court nominee and she didn't use to work in Miami😢😢
Get out your face masks and face shields and get ready for phase two boys and girls.
First, an obligatory comment praising our administrative judges. They are working hard on trying to get back to normal. They have guidelines issued by the Florida Supreme Court that they have to follow. The pressure is on and they are doing their best. Phase two does not mean the regular resumption of in person court calendars. But it does bring more people into the courthouse.
Now our piece. THIS IS MADNESS!! Jury trials (limited) will resume. Who wants to get Covid and die trying a case? Step right up and enter the REGJB where the windows do not open and there is no fresh air and the AC is one step up from fans blowing on blocks of ice.
IT IS NOT SAFE TO BE INSIDE A PUBLIC BUILDING. Rinse and repeat. Covid is spread by aerosols, tiny particles that N95 masks do not block and which linger in the air for 6-8 hours. One person in an elevator at a time? Nonsense and not safe unless there is an advanced HEPPA air filter and the interior is sprayed with Lysol after every trip. Use the escalator? Imagine a stream of colored air coming from each person you are behind much like the contrails of a jet. That is their exhaled aerosols you are breathing that will infect and kill you. Walk crowded stairwells with out of shape lawyers huffing and puffing out virus droplets? No thanks. So how do we get around the building safely? We don't. There is no way.
Temperature check before entering?
HEALTH SCREENING REQUIRED, INCLUDING TEMPERATURE CHECK
- Court security staff will conduct a health screening, including questions about symptoms and a required temperature check, to ensure that no one enters the courthouse when there is a likelihood that they have COVID-19. Persons who have a fever of 100.4 degrees or greater or who answer “yes” to two or more of the symptom questions shall not be allowed to enter the courthouse, and the presiding judge will be notified.
- If an individual declines the health screening, they will not be allowed into the courthouse and the presiding judge will be notified.
COVID IS SPREAD BY ASYMPTOMATIC PEOPLE. Temperature checks do not work with asymptomatic people. They have no symptoms like a temperature and they spread the virus. That is the difference between Covid and SARS. SARS is spread by only symptomatic people. That is why SARS killed 800 people worldwide and Covid has killed over 200 thousand Americans.
N95 Face masks stop 95% of airborne particles. First- that white and blue mask everyone wears is not an N95 mask. Second, are you happy breathing in 5% of the air from a Covid positive person? We are not. And yet the memo says this:
Ø FACE MASKS REQUIRED
- Face masks shall be worn at all times, including during court proceedings, while on court premises. If someone does not have a face mask, courthouse security staff will provide one.
- If an individual declines to wear a mask, they will not be allowed into the courthouse and the presiding judge will be notified.
Six foot distancing being safe is a myth according to MIT and Oxford. We understand it's not Hialeah Hospital giving this opinion, but MIT and Oxford seem to know what they are doing.
Yet the memo says this:
Ø SOCIAL DISTANCING REQUIRED
- Persons must maintain 6 feet of social distancing from each other while waiting to enter the courthouse and during their stay in the courthouse. Markers on the floor throughout the courthouse will assist visitors with maintaining 6 feet of social distancing.
Six foot distances being called safe, inside a building with no open windows is not just a myth- it may be manslaughter. It is reckless and dangerous behavior and mark our words- someone is going to get sick and die for something preventable.
Set up a courtroom in Marlin's stadium. Seriously. With a breeze and fresh air and masks AND face shields with everyone miked up, a trial could be safely done. Bringing people inside a building built in 1960 that has dirty air and no open windows is beyond reckless.
And yet, according to the memo that is just what they are going to do:
The courts will transition to Phase 2 COVID-19 emergency operations on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. A description of Phase 2 operations is listed below.
During Phase 2, the courts will remain closed to in-person proceedings, with exceptions, in order to reduce person-to-person contact and potential transmission of coronavirus disease COVID-19. Court proceedings that can take place remotely via telephone or video technology will continue to take place. Trials will resume in limited number following strict adherence to health and safety protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other health authorities. A video explaining the steps the Miami-Dade Courts are taking to keep all trial participants safe may be found
TRIALS
Trials will resume with in-person jury selection and in-person trial proceedings following strict safety protocols established by the CDC and other health experts with whom the Miami-Dade Courts consult regularly.
Due to the space limitations of our courthouses and the social distancing and other safety protocols required during the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be fewer trials conducted than in the past. In order to ensure social distancing and keep the number of people inside our courthouses to a minimum, only the trial participants will be permitted to enter the courthouses.
THIS IS MADNESS. We cannot bring people together inside our aging courthouses unless either : 1- there is daily at home inexpensive test. Take the test. Transmit the result to an app, scan the app for entrance into court, restaurants, Dolphin games, bars; and/or 2- there is an effective vaccine. Your own Rumpole is enrolled in a Vaccine study. We will be inoculated shortly.
But in case we have not been clear lets make sure we are not being misread: It is not safe to go to phase two and bring people into the courthouse for any reason, especially trials.
Phase two does not mean the end of Zoom hearings. We get that. But that is next up. And right now the Judges are going to start trials on a limited basis. Why? Just to do it? The risks outweigh the rewards. We have judges in the REJGB who had Covid. Everyone now knows someone who has been sick or who has died from Covid. What we do not want to happen- and what will occur- is that some healthy person right now- a courtroom clerk, a court reporter; a juror; a witness; a judge or some young ASA or PD will get sick and die. No one wants that happen. Phase two is judge a meaningless phase. When a sick person goes to the hospital and they suspect Covid is the person going to say "I can't have Covid- we are in phase two." ? No, but they may die.
Stop the madness before it starts. Keep courts closed except for virtual hearings.