NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FL–The COVID-19 pandemic has brought on many a terrible thing, but perhaps none more horrific than an outbreak of the blame game. Be it masks, social distancing, vaccines, toilet paper, science, or even celebrities singing “Imagine,” the social and political climate has been nothing short of contentious, and nobody wants to accept the blame.

Amid plausible claims from the left that policies resisting mask and vaccine mandates may be largely to blame, such as those of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a new explanation has emerged: shark attacks. “We’re all talking about hospitalizations this, hospitalizations and death that, but are we really getting into the ‘why’ of it all? We’ve had 22 shark attacks in the state of Florida alone in 2021. That’s a pandemic of its own, and don’t you think those 22 people probably ended up in a hospital, too?” Gov. DeSantis spelled out to reporters at New Smyrna Beach — a known hot spot for shark attacks. “The CDC conveniently won’t mention that in their doomsday reports.”

Independent fact-checkers have verified Gov. DeSantis’ shark attack statistics. It is alarming, but our researchers found that none of the 22 attacks were fatal. Still, we have to presume that most, if not all, of those shark attacks resulted in hospitalizations. It’s certainly enough to shed doubt on popular theories that anti-mask and anti-vaccine practices are to blame.