In the wake of Omicron and COVID-19 numbers rising throughout Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Jan. 3 there is no need for “hysteria” like he is “seeing in other states.”
“They’re letting hysteria drive them to doing really damaging things. We thought that people had learned,” DeSantis said of the reaction to the Omicron variant.
The governor said in other states schools are closing and they are “doing things that should not be done and that is not the way you deal with this.”
“We are 100 percent committed to making sure that people are able to live their lives, that our kids are able to get an education, that people’s businesses are able to operate, and that people have jobs–that is just non-negotiable,” DeSantis told reporters.
The governor said Omicron is less of a concern than the Delta variant and that you have to deal with it “rationally.”
DeSantis said having kids thriving in school means a “healthier community”.
“It’s found that you have worse outcomes by closing schools. Kids need to be in school ... just let them be kids.”
DeSantis said Omicron just “blows right through” any mitigation efforts.
The governor reminded people of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, when it comes to mitigation against COVID-19 and its variants.
“Politicians don’t get to countermand the rights of parents. That means parents have primary responsibility for the health, education, upbringing of their kids, and forcing them to wear a mask for eight hours a day is something that most parents do not want.”
Last year, when some Florida school boards mandated masks and the quarantine of asymptomatic children, DeSantis said they saw some of the “biggest declines in performance.”
Some Florida school districts imposed mask mandates at the beginning of the school year in August, defying orders from the state Department of Health to allow parents to choose whether their kids wore masks.
School districts challenged the legality of those orders, but in November the state Legislature passed a law solidifying parents’ rights to make that decision.
However schools can require employees to wear masks.
So when teachers and other staff in Alachua County public schools reported back to campuses on Jan. 4, they had to wear masks again.
The requirement also covers volunteers, vendors, and visitors to campuses during school hours.
An email to staff stated, “We hope this won’t last long, since Omicron is expected to peak quickly, but we’ll keep you posted.”
The decision to require masks was based on a sharp increase of COVID-19 cases.
“In the last two weeks, the number of COVID cases in Alachua County has jumped from 677 to 2072, and the positivity rate has increased from 7.9 percent to 22.1 percent,” said Jackie Johnson, a spokeswoman for the district.
“We'll also have people returning from the break, during which there will have been a lot of traveling and gatherings leading to potential exposure, particularly to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
“The goal of reinstituting the masks for employees is to reduce the spread of COVID in our schools, protect the health of students, staff and families, and to limit as much as possible employees having to be out due to COVID, so that we can maintain our school operations at optimum levels.
“Florida law no longer permits mask requirements for students, although we are strongly recommending them to families.”
Johnson said employees can receive a mask exemption for medical reasons through the districts’ human resources department.
The district’s superintendent, Carlee Simon, Ph.D., has written opinion pieces for The Washington Post and has been interviewed on national television news programs challenging DeSantis’ response to the pandemic.
Dr. Joseph Ladapo took over as Florida’s Surgeon General in September and revamped the state’s policies as it dealt with children in school during the pandemic.
Quarantining of healthy kids was thrown out as Ladapo went against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and changed the state’s policy.
Ladapo said, “There’s no place for fear when you’re doing the policy–you’ve got to deal with this rationally.”
“If you’re symptomatic you’ll be sent home, but if you’re healthy you need to be in school,” DeSantis said of Ladapo’s changes.
Nanette Holt contributed to this article
