MELBOURNE BEACH, Florida – Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis: Pennsylvania reverses course and will issue a mask warrant for K-12 Florida schools reported “artificial decline” in deaths from COVID-19 as cases were rising in Florida retains funds from two districts with MORE mask mandates (R) faces resistance from a growing number of Republican-leaning counties over its treatment of the recent rise in COVID-19 infections, in a rare bipartisan rebuke of the governor’s laissez faire approach to pandemic.
A number of school districts have decided to implement mask mandates for students in recent weeks, challenging a July DeSantis executive order banning school officials from setting such requirements. And while most of these mandates originated in more liberal parts of the state, a handful of conservative-leaning areas have been incorporated.
At the same time, DeSantis remains locked in a battle with the lucrative Florida cruise industry over the ban on so-called vaccine passports, as a growing number of major cruise lines announce plans to require passengers to accredit vaccination.
The reaction underscores the political dangers posed by the pandemic, even for a rising Republican star like DeSantis, who will be re-elected next year and is considered a possible candidate for the 2024 GOP presidency nomination.
Florida is experiencing one of its darkest moments since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, as the most contagious delta variant spreads across the state.
As of Sunday, Florida was averaging more than 21,000 new infections each day, according to the Covid Data Tracker of the Centers for Disease Control. More than 16,000 people are currently hospitalized, according to a Friday update from the Florida Hospital Association that showed a slight downward trend.
“With our fingers crossed, we may be seeing the beginning of a downward trend in COVID-19 hospitalizations, but new cases are still close to all-time highs, so it’s too early to declare victory.” , said Mary Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association. .
COVID-19 cases have grown in Florida despite the state’s significant push for vaccines. Florida currently ranks 20th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in residents who have received at least one dose of vaccine. More recently, DeSantis has been dedicated to promoting COVID-19 antibody treatment sold by pharmaceutical company Regeneron as a way to combat the delta variant.
“COVID will be with us. You have the tools to better protect yourself, “he said Monday at a news conference promoting antibody treatment.” Obviously, from a prevention perspective, vaccination. But if you’re infected, especially if you’re at high risk. “What do you do? And that must be something that everyone knows.”
However, DeSantis, who has been praised by conservatives for his resistance to some of the stricter measures related to COVID-19, has largely taken a laissez faire approach to the outbreak. He backed legislation earlier this year that prevents local governments from imposing their own pandemic restrictions.
But the struggle for pandemic-related rules and mandates has played a prominent role in state public schools. DeSantis signed an executive order late last month banning school districts from implementing mask mandates, a move that has come under increasing resistance from school boards, superintendents and many parents.
About a dozen of the state’s 67 school districts have rejected DeSantis with a mask warrant ban. In recent days, more conservative counties have begun to make their own moves.
On Monday, members of the Brevard County School Board, an area that DeSantis carried nearly 17 points in the 2018 government election, voted 3-2 to establish a mandatory 30-day mask policy.
The meeting came after a Friday ruling by a Florida judge that allowed school districts to impose strict mask warrants, which dealt a severe blow to DeSantis who had argued that such decisions should be dropped. at the hands of the parents.
A Brevard school board member, Misty Belford, had previously voted against a mask policy before joining two other members to approve the mandate Monday. He said that while he expects the DeSantis administration to appeal the judge’s ruling, the decision gave school board members “a small window to try to stop the spread” of the virus.
“We have a very serious crisis on our hands,” Belford said. “I think we have a very small opportunity to do something to break that cycle and get some relief.”
Also Monday, the superintendent of the Lee County School District, an intense red part of southwest Florida, announced a 30-day mask warrant for all students and staff on Wednesday.
Brevard and Lee’s decisions came on the same day that public schools in two other Republican strongholds, Sarasota County and Indian River County, began applying similar mask mandates to students. In each of the counties, students can opt for the requirements with a grade signed by a medical professional.
The DeSantis administration has not resisted the lie of the governor’s executive order. Despite the judge’s ruling, the Florida Department of Education on Monday continued the threat to withhold funds from two school districts – Broward County and Alachua County – that imposed mask warrants.
“We will fight to protect the rights of parents to make decisions about their children’s health care,” State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran said in a statement. “They know what’s best for their kids.”
Of course, DeSantis remains very popular among Florida Republicans. A University of Quinnipiac poll released last week found its approval rating among GOP voters with an overwhelming 87%, while only 8% said they disapprove of their job performance.
And the recent rise of COVID-19 does not appear to have affected DeSantis ’fundraising capabilities. Friends of Ron DeSantis, the governor’s political committee, raised about $ 5 million between Aug. 1 and 27.
By comparison, the two main Democrats challenging DeSantis in next year’s government election, Rep. Charlie Crist
Charles (Charlie) Joseph Christ The Reminder: Will the DeSantis Star Fall as Florida’s COVID Figures Increase? Democrats Worry About Trump District Retirements Before Intermediate Periods Democrats Accept COVID-19 Mandates in Governor Races MORE (D-Fla.) And state commissioner Nikki Fried, have raised just over $ 3.2 million this year together.
But the Quinnipiac poll also suggests some problems for DeSantis, with the overall approval rating falling below 50% to 47%. This is even better than the 41% approval it obtained in a July 2020 Quinnipiac survey, but it is still well below the pre-pandemic high of 59% in March 2019.
However, when it comes to treating the coronavirus pandemic, DeSantis ’approval rating drops to as much as 46%, while it gets 44% approval for the treatment of Florida public schools. The survey also found that 60 percent of Floridians support masking requirements for students, teachers and school staff.
The DeSantis administration is also caught up in another far-reaching battle against the cruise industry, as a growing number of cruise operators reveal vaccination requirements for passengers.
The Republican-controlled state legislature passed a measure earlier this year at the urging of DeSantis that prohibited companies from requiring employers to provide vaccination evidence. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings sued the law and a federal judge issued a ruling earlier this month allowing the company to require vaccinations for its passengers.
The DeSantis office has pledged to appeal the sentence. But that hasn’t stopped other state cruise operators from implementing their own requirements.
So far Disney, Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC Cruises have announced vaccine requirements. These decisions were influenced by a Bahamian emergency order that effectively prohibited cruise ships from stopping in the country unless all eligible passengers were vaccinated.
A University of Quinnipiac poll released last week found that the majority of Floridians (63%) supported vaccine requirements for cruise passengers.