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Florida is tackling the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic as cases skyrocket among children throughout the state, specifically teens who are not vacccinated.
Data from theCenters for Disease Control and Preventionreveals that Florida Department of Health reported 32 pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations per day and between July 23 and 29. There were also 10,785 new COVID-19 infections among children under age 12 in the same time frame — an average of 1,540 new cases per day, theTampa Bay Timesreports.
Though many children recover from the virus within a week,studies showthat a small percentage can experience long-term symptoms. Children under age 12 are not yet eligible for vaccination. And as of Friday, only38%of children in Florida aged 12 to 19 had been vaccinated.
As COVID cases among youth increase, South Florida’s Broward County Public Schools — the state’s second largest school district — has withdrawn its mask mandate, which was announced last week, after threats from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to withhold funding to districts thatrequire face coverings.
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“Broward County Public Schools intends to comply with the governor’s latest executive order,” the school district said in anonline statementWednesday.
The decision follows the executive order DeSantis signed on Friday prohibiting school districts from implementing a mask mandate when the new academic year begins this fall. DeSantis said in astatement, “masking children can negatively impact their learning, speech, emotional and social development, and physical health,” without citing any evidence
The order will allow parents to decide whether or not to have their children wear masks inside the classroom, despite CDC recommendations urging so. “I signed an executive order directing@HealthyFlato enter rulemaking in collaboration with@EducationFLto protect parents' freedom to choose whether their children wear masks in schools,” the governortweeted.
Florida has been hit hard with the coronavirus and the highly contagious delta variant. The state reported its highest surge ofcoronaviruscases since the beginning of the pandemic, reporting 21, 683 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, according to CDC data.
On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services reported that 10,207 people in Florida were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, theAssociated Pressreported. The figure breaks the previous Sunshine State record of 10,170 hospitalizations, recorded July 23, 2020, according to theFlorida Hospital Association.They report more than 95% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are not fully vaccinated.
As information about thecoronavirus pandemicrapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from theCDC,WHOandlocal public health departments.PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMeto raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, clickhere.
source: people.com
