High COVID-19 Case Counts, Mask Debates Put Florida in Spotlight
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Florida's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases has risen steadily in August amid the spread of the Delta variant, and the state currently has the highest seven-day average of new cases in the country. According to New York Times (Lean Left bias) data, an average of roughly 16,500 people in Florida are hospitalized with COVID-19 every day, the most of any state; Texas (12,357) is the only other state with an average higher than 10,000. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) opposes coronavirus restrictions including mask and vaccine mandates; he has called on schools to let parents decide whether children wear masks, and has threatened financial repercussions for schools and administrators who defy the edict.
The state's COVID-19 situation has been covered more by center- and left-rated outlets than by right-rated outlets. Coverage from left- and center-rated sources has often focused on the high case counts, concerns about over-capacity at hospitals, debates over mask mandates in schools, and DeSantis' management of the situation, with some framing him as a poor leader. Some reports from right-rated outlets highlighted a University of South Florida epidemiology professor who predicted Florida's current spike will peak next week, with the possibility of reaching herd immunity in three weeks if vaccination rates improve.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Florida's biggest school districts vote to defy DeSantis on masks
After record-shattering daily COVID-19 counts, school boards in Florida's Hillsborough and Miami-Dade Counties held emergency meetings Wednesday and voted to again require face coverings on campuses.
Why it matters: The districts are the nation's fourth- and seventh-largest — representing more than 600,000 students.
They join Broward, Leon and Alachua Counties in openly defying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Education.
State of play: Hillsborough reported Wednesday that there were 1,840 confirmed cases among students and staff, and that 10,000 students and staff were quarantined.
A big change: Students had been allowed to...
From the Left
Ron DeSantis leans into mask-mandate fights as Covid cases soar in Florida As the number of new coronavirus cases in his state soars, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is betting that an aggressive campaign against mandatory mask-wearing in schools will harden the Republican base ahead of his expected re-election bid next year -- and make him a GOP star nationwide as the party's 2024 presidential primary comes into view.
The gamble appears to be paying off -- for now. DeSantis is a Fox News darling and relishes the intensifying backlash from Democrats, especially President Joe Biden, who has criticized the governor and other Republican state executives for...
From the Right
Florida COVID-19 surge to peak next week, researchers project
Florida could hit the peak of its latest COVID-19 surge next week with some 23,000 cases, with herd immunity to follow in mid-September, according to an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida.
Edwin Michael, PhD, professor of epidemiology at the USF College of Public Health, projected the peak will occur on Aug. 24, and along with the current pace of vaccinations, the state could see herd immunity by Sept. 11. Herd immunity was defined as 90% of the population with antibodies from prior infection or vaccination.
The projected peak in infections...
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