Opening schools may depend on the level of infections across the state, Governor Ron DeSantis said.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday he is considering opening schools back up in May, following their shutdown on March 13 in an effort to slow the coronavirus' spread in the state. "If we get to the point where people think we are on the other side of this and we can get kids back in, even if it's for a couple of weeks, I think there would be value in that," DeSantis said during a roundtable discussion featuring professionals in the Florida educational system, parents and government leaders, who joined the conversation through a video conferencing call.
Classes in Florida schools typically end in the last week of May or the first week of June. "We are going to look at the evidence and make a decision," he said."We have not made a decision yet. If it is safe, we want kids to be in school. I think most parents want that. So we will continue to look and see how this develops and make a decision there." The governor cited the fact that children have, for the most part, fared best during the pandemic, compared with other age groups. However, they can still carry the virus and spread it to others. Florida currently has 17,531 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, 60 percent of which are in three counties in southeast Florida, and 390 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard. The 2,360 hospitalizations have reportedly not overwhelmed the state's health care system.
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