Firestorm when Fla. Gov DeSantis mulls kids going back to school ‘even for a couple weeks’ when it’s safe

(Image: CBS Miami screenshot)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is thinking about the possibility of reopening schools in the state “if it’s safe” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Schools in Florida that have been closed since March due to the coronavirus outbreak could see a return of students for the few weeks left of the school year if the Republican governor feels the circumstances are right.


(Source: CBS Miami)

 

“We’re going to look at the evidence and make a decision,” DeSantis said Thursday at an education roundtable, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

“If it’s safe we want kids to be in school,” he added. “Even if it’s for a couple of weeks, we think there would be value in that.”

Speaking with teachers and parents alongside government leaders, DeSantis praised Florida’s Department of Education for the efforts to transition thousands of schoolchildren away from physical buildings and into home learning environments due to the global pandemic.

He looked at a potential timeline for reopening schools in the state as he addressed the topic that is sure to be highly debated.

“This particular pandemic is one where, I don’t think nationwide there’s been a single fatality under 25. For whatever reason it just doesn’t seem to threaten, you know, kids,” DeSantis said.

“And we lose in Florida between five and 10 kids a year for the flu. This one, for whatever reason, much more dangerous if you’re 65 and plus than the flu, no doubt about that. If you’re younger, it just hasn’t had an impact, so that should factor into how we’re viewing this. I think the data on that has been 100 percent consistent,” he continued. “I’ve not seen any deviation on that.”

He reiterated that if the decision was reached to move forward at some point when things were deemed safe for children, the reopening of campuses would occur in two-week increments and based on federal and health recommendations.

“It may be that not every county is going to be treated the same in all this,” DeSantis said.

Nearly 17,000 people in Florida have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 370 deaths reported, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Naturally, the Florida governor’s remarks, though filtered with acknowledgment of federal and health guidelines, were quickly reported negatively by the liberal media.

“Florida governor falsely claims the coronavirus hasn’t killed anyone under 25,” read a CNN headline, claiming that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “reports on its website that four people between the ages of 15 and 24 and one person between the ages of one and four have died.”

The outlet also pointed to the deaths of babies in Connecticut and Illinois, while admitting the “death is being investigated as possibly caused by the virus.”

Last week, conservative activist and commentator Candace Owens pulled back the curtain on the questionable reporting on some deaths, focusing on the Connecticut infant who allegedly died from COVID-19.

MSNBC joined CNN in a smug criticism of DeSantis, offering a condescending “fact-check” on his remarks.


(Source: MSNBC)

Twitter users weighed in on the governor’s remarks with critics quick to spread the narrative and accuse DeSantis of endangering the population with a decision he has not even made yet.

But many on Twitter called out the “propaganda” and those who refuse to stick to the facts.

 

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Frieda Powers

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