Florida - Coronavirus Covid-19 #2

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Florida grapples with record Covid surge as school year set to start for some (nbcnews.com)

Florida has become an epicenter of the latest surge of the pandemic in the U.S. with cases still breaking records as school starts this week for some.

Florida has become an epicenter of the latest surge of the pandemic in the U.S. with new cases still breaking records and hospitalizations rising as school starts this week in some districts.

Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing legal challenges over his executive order threatening to withhold funds for schools that have mask requirements for students. The governor was also dealt a blow over a law banning companies from requiring proof of Covid-19 vaccinations.

As the school year starts this week for some districts and later this month for others, one lawsuit represents concerned parents of students in schools across the state, attorney Charles Gallagher told NBC News.

The parents involved in the lawsuit, filed Friday, are concerned that the governor’s executive order has framed mask requirements “as a parents’ choice issue, when it's clearly a public health issue,” he said...
 
Once again we are a hot mess here - our governor <modsnip> ignores anything practical and is threatening to withhold pay for school boards and superintendents who defy his executive order (he’s a dictator) but schools around my area are asking for masks for the kids - at Publix today every single person had their masks back on so I am thinking some are getting it. Of course the anti crowd <modsnip> can’t be swayed and I just ignore them. Other than a beach weekend where we disinfected the room and ate outside we are not going anywhere (still) since our March 2020 cruise. Sigh
 
Last edited by a moderator:
oviedo said:
at Publix today every single person had their masks back on so I am thinking some are getting it
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Your FL Publix must be a far distance from my FL Publix!
At my Clearwater Publix yesterday, every employee wore their (now required) mask. I saw about 50 customers and noticed only ONE other customer wearing a mask. Then I went into an adjacent pizza restaurant and a pet store. There were about 20 people in each of those businesses, and nobody was masked except me.
 
DeSantis' school mask mandate ban is unlawful, Florida judge rules (nbcnews.com)

Local school boards have the right to set their own policies as long as they're "narrowly tailored," the judge said Friday.

A Florida judge on Friday knocked down the state's order banning local school boards from implementing mask mandates, saying the sweeping action from Tallahassee doesn't "pass constitutional muster."

Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper's decision followed a four-day trial, which was held online as the state struggles to contain the spread of Covid-19.

School districts have the right to set policies, like mask mandates, as long as they have “compelling state interest” and have a “narrowly tailored” plan of action, according to Cooper.

The judge made clear that he was not ruling against Gov. Ron DeSantis, but taking action to bar state agencies from enforcing the governor's blanket order against local mask mandates, which tramples on Florida’s separation of powers statutes...

 
FLmom777 said:
I love my governor. He refuses to dictate to people about their personal choices.
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Same in AZ. I watched my former state of Illinois jump to impose mask mandates, and they'll have a 101 excuses when they have no effect.
 
Officials withhold school board salaries over mask mandates (clickondetroit.com)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida state education officials on Monday began to make good on threats to withhold funding from local school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis' ban on mask mandates, despite a circuit judge last week ruling the ban unconstitutional.

Commissioner of Education Richard Corcoran announced that the Florida Department of Education has withheld an amount equal to monthly school board member salaries in Alachua and Broward counties, as directed by the State Board of Education. Funds will continue to be withheld until the districts comply, Corcoran said.

Broward County Interim Superintendent Vickie Cartwright said in a statement that Broward County School Board believes they are in compliance with the law.

“The health and safety of our students, teachers and staff continue to be our main priorities,” Cartwright said. “As such, BCPS (Broward County Public Schools) will continue to mandate masks, knowing the data shows they help minimize the spread of COVID-19 in our schools.”...
 
Gov. DeSantis' ban on mask mandates in Florida schools reinstated for now (nbcnews.com)

The most recent decision in the back-and-forth legal battle means schools can be penalized for enforcing mask mandates.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration was granted approval Friday to keep in place an order banning mask mandates in schools while the measure moves through an appeals court.

"When a public officer or agency seeks appellate review, which is the case here, there is a presumption under the rule in favor of a stay, and the stay should be vacated only for the most compelling of reasons," said an order from the 1st District Court of Appeal. "Given the presumption against vacating the automatic stay, the stay should have been left in place pending appellate review."

The most recent decision in the back-and-forth legal battle means schools can be penalized for enforcing mask mandates to prevent the spread of Covid-19...

 
Florida Gov. DeSantis threatens heavy fines for local governments that impose vaccine mandates (nbcnews.com)

The Republican governor warned that the mandates will result in “millions and millions of dollars potentially in fines.”

WASHINGTON — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is threatening to impose hefty fines on city and county governments that require their employees be vaccinated against Covid.

DeSantis said Monday that his state would fine the local governments $5,000 for each employee that is forced to get a vaccine in order to continue working.

The threat stems from a law DeSantis signed in May that bans “governmental entities in Florida from requiring proof of vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from their operations," his office said...
 
Florida to dock salaries, withhold funding from 8 school districts for requiring masks (nbcnews.com)

Alachua, Brevard, Broward, Duval, Leon, Miami-Dade, Orange and Palm Beach counties are impacted by the ruling from state education officials.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida is set to dock salaries and withhold funding from local school districts that defied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ban on pandemic mask mandates in classrooms, state education officials ruled Thursday.

The Florida State Board of Education approved plans to deduct an amount equal to a month’s pay from school board members in eight counties, including in some of the state’s biggest cities. It will also reduce overall funding to the counties if they receive federal grants intended to blunt the state’s fines.

The penalties would go into effect in 48 hours if the districts do not let parents opt their children out of mask mandates in the schools...
 
Orange County Health Director Dr Raul Pino was placed on administrative leave (suspended from his job) by the State of Florida for encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated. Orange County health director Dr. Raul Pino placed on administrative leave

The state controls county health departments, so they have no independence. Meanwhile, omicron cases are still rising in many parts of Florida.
 
Warwick1991 said:
Orange County Health Director Dr Raul Pino was placed on administrative leave (suspended from his job) by the State of Florida for encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated. Orange County health director Dr. Raul Pino placed on administrative leave

The state controls county health departments, so they have no independence. Meanwhile, omicron cases are still rising in many parts of Florida.
Click to expand...
Warwick1991 said:
Orange County Health Director Dr Raul Pino was placed on administrative leave (suspended from his job) by the State of Florida for encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated. Orange County health director Dr. Raul Pino placed on administrative leave

The state controls county health departments, so they have no independence. Meanwhile, omicron cases are still rising in many parts of Florida.
Click to expand...

Is this not unbe!ievable????
 
Warwick1991 said:
Orange County Health Director Dr Raul Pino was placed on administrative leave (suspended from his job) by the State of Florida for encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated. Orange County health director Dr. Raul Pino placed on administrative leave

The state controls county health departments, so they have no independence. Meanwhile, omicron cases are still rising in many parts of Florida.
Click to expand...

This is just so bizarre. It defies reason. I hope Dr. Piano finds employment in a place where his opinion is respected.
 
Warwick1991 said:
Orange County Health Director Dr Raul Pino was placed on administrative leave (suspended from his job) by the State of Florida for encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated. Orange County health director Dr. Raul Pino placed on administrative leave

The state controls county health departments, so they have no independence. Meanwhile, omicron cases are still rising in many parts of Florida.
Click to expand...
Pino was not simply "encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated". Pino wrote an email to county health employees implying that unvaccinated staff are "irresponsible" and "pathetic".

State releases email that prompted Orange County health director being placed on leave
On Wednesday, state health officials released the email that apparently prompted Pino to be placed on leave.
In it, he laments that so few county health employees have been vaccinated.
"I have a hard time understanding how can we be in public health and not practice it! The reasons can be many, but so many of us?" he wrote. "I am sorry, but at this point in the absence of reasonable and real reasons, it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300 000 (OCDOH) and we are not even at 50%, pathetic."

Florida health official sent an email calling out his unvaccinated colleagues. He's now on administrative leave | News Channel 3-12
The top official for Florida’s Department of Health in the Orlando area has been placed on administrative leave after he sent an email expressing his frustration at the low vaccination rate among his colleagues.
The email on January 4 by Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, has also led to an investigation to determine if any laws were broken, according to Weesam Khoury, communications director at the Florida Department of Health.
[...]
Florida law forbids vaccine mandates
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in November banning vaccine mandates and imposing fines on businesses and hospitals that require employees to be vaccinated without exemptions.
 
SeesSeas said:
Pino was not simply "encouraging Health Department employees to get vaccinated". Pino wrote an email to county health employees implying that unvaccinated staff are "irresponsible" and "pathetic".

State releases email that prompted Orange County health director being placed on leave
On Wednesday, state health officials released the email that apparently prompted Pino to be placed on leave.
In it, he laments that so few county health employees have been vaccinated.
"I have a hard time understanding how can we be in public health and not practice it! The reasons can be many, but so many of us?" he wrote. "I am sorry, but at this point in the absence of reasonable and real reasons, it is irresponsible not to be vaccinated. We have been at this for two years, we were the first to give vaccines to the masses, we have done more than 300 000 (OCDOH) and we are not even at 50%, pathetic."

Florida health official sent an email calling out his unvaccinated colleagues. He's now on administrative leave | News Channel 3-12
The top official for Florida’s Department of Health in the Orlando area has been placed on administrative leave after he sent an email expressing his frustration at the low vaccination rate among his colleagues.
The email on January 4 by Dr. Raul Pino, the director of the Florida Department of Health in Orange County, has also led to an investigation to determine if any laws were broken, according to Weesam Khoury, communications director at the Florida Department of Health.
[...]
Florida law forbids vaccine mandates
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law in November banning vaccine mandates and imposing fines on businesses and hospitals that require employees to be vaccinated without exemptions.
Click to expand...

Dr Pino was not requiring the employees to get vaccinated.
 
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