FL Breaks Deaths Record, Gov Shrugs Off Risk To Kids

The Tampa Bay Times reports:

Florida logged a new record for the most coronavirus deaths announced in a day with 277 on Tuesday. Tuesday’s record brought the statewide death toll to 8,685 people, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The weekly death average increased to 166 people dead per day. The previous high was 257 deaths on July 31, according to the health department.

Florida added 5,831 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total to 542,792 cases since the pandemic began. The Tampa Bay area added 797 new coronavirus cases and 44 deaths Tuesday. The number of tests processed statewide decreased some to 67,000. Hospitalizations increased by 573 admissions.

Jacksonville’s NBC News affiliate reports:

During a roundtable meeting at a public charter school in Riverview, DeSantis reiterated his position that the risk of contracting COVID-19 among students remains low and schools need to reopen this fall to give parents education options.

“Nothing’s risk-free in life,” DeSantis said. “There’s nothing we can do that’s going to be zero. But the risks are, what I would say low for the students, the risk of the schools being real drivers of the epidemic, certainly that’s not been validated in the observed experience up to this point. So in that sense, you take that and then you have to look, what are the costs of not offering in-person, and then make that judgment.”