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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order making masks optional in public schools across the state.
The announcement came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines for K-12 schools on Tuesday recommending universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff and students, regardless of COVID-19[female[feminine vaccination status.
“The federal government has no right to tell parents that in order for their children to attend school in person, they must be required to wear a mask all day, every day,” DeSantis said in a statement. press release Friday. “Many Florida schoolchildren have suffered from forced masking policies, and it is prudent to protect the ability of parents to make decisions about the wearing of masks by their children. “
The governor’s office said in a press release that the ordinance strengthens the right of parents to choose what is best for their children.
The order also came in response to a number of local school boards considering mask warrants after the Biden administration issued “unscientific and inconsistent recommendations that school-aged children wear masks,” said the governor’s office said in the statement.
PARENTS SEPARATE ON COVID-19 VACCINES FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, FIND SURVEY
DeSantis has taken the opposite stance of many Democratic governors and state lawmakers over the past year when it comes to COVID-19-related mandates, such as lockdowns and mask warrants. Florida schools, for example, have been open for in-person learning since October 2020.
Mandates for masks in public schools across the country have sparked debate among parents, with some saying children should wear masks at school if they are learning in person to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and others opposing the warrants due to the relatively low number of COVID-19 -19 deaths in children.
DATA ON PEDIATRIC COVID-19 DEATHS IN THE UNITED STATES REMAINS INCLUDED
CDC officials cited data regarding the delta variant as advising that universal mask mandates be in place for K-12 schools, where the majority of the student body has not been vaccinated. The United States has not authorized any of the COVID-19 vaccines for children under 12, and only about 30% of teens aged 12 to 17 have received one.
“Although this number is relatively small, there are still a significant number of children hospitalized”, Dr Steven Abelowitz, MD, FAAP, regional director of Pediatrics For Coastal Children, previously told Fox News. “And the number of child deaths is not negligible. In other words, to date there are more than twice as many child deaths from COVID-19 than from the flu since the beginning. of the pandemic. “
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The delta variant, which behaves dramatically differently from other strains of coronavirus, is peaking especially in areas with low vaccination rates, and at a time when schools are preparing to welcome students again for in-person learning.
More than 10 million Florida residents have been fully immunized against the virus, more than 60% of the state’s population, according to the state’s health department, which has reported an increase in the number of positive cases. in the past two months. Florida recorded nearly 16,000 cases for the week of June 25 compared to more than 110,000 cases this week.
Alexandria Hein of Fox News contributed to this report.
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