Florida grapples with record Covid surge as school looms
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.The families have students who are too young to get vaccinated, have medical conditions, or face other issues that put them at risk or will make them suffer if they are denied the right to a safe school environment, he said, a right guaranteed in the Florida Constitution.A healthcare worker administers a Covid-19 swab test at a testing site at Tropical Park in Miami
