Governor of Florida Ron DeSantisIn a trial on the rules for wearing masks in schools, COVID-19 expert Jay Bhattacharya was asked: “What is the acceptable mortality rate for children?”
The question came from Charles Gallagher, an attorney representing parents in 12 school districts in Florida. The parents are suing DeSantis for the June 30 order banning wearing masks in schools.
Parents argued that DeSantis’ ban violated the state constitution, which guarantees a “safe” public school system that is overseen by the school board rather than the governor. The parents said that DeSantis’ orders could also endanger the lives of their children and family members.
The Republican governor and his lawyers stated that he has the right to issue an injunction under the Parental Rights Act. A state law passed last spring gave parents the right to make medical decisions for their children.
During the trial, Gallagher told Bhattacharya that there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases in the state recently and that 11 children under the age of 16 have recently died due to the coronavirus. Florida Phoenix Report. Batacharia said he had not heard of the deaths of the children.
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“What is the acceptable mortality rate for children?” Gallagher asked Batacharia.
Batacharia replied: “I reject the premise of this question. The question is not what is the acceptable mortality rate. The question is: What is the trade-off?”
Gallagher complained to the trial judge that Batacharia did not answer this question. However, the judge allowed Bhattacharya to answer as he pleased. The judge said in the trial earlier that because there is no jury, he will give witnesses more flexibility to answer questions under cross-examination.
“I think it is wrong to say,’What is the correct and acceptable number of deaths?’ I mean, compared to what?” Batacharia continued. Earlier in the trial, Batacharia said that masks would cause “considerable harm” to children and may “last a lifetime”.
In a column in July Orange County Register, Bhattacharya called the benefits of masks to children “very small” and claimed that they are “destructive to classroom learning and communication.” He also said that facial coverings will reduce children’s ability to learn “nonverbal communication” and destroy their emotional bond with their teachers.
He wrote: “In general, wearing a mask is likely to aggravate the possibility of anxiety and depression in children, and these anxiety and depression themselves have reached pandemic levels.”
DeSantis cited Bhattacharya many times when defending his statewide COVID-19 policy He opposed the second blockade. In turn, Professor Bhattacharya Stanford University Medical school, Praise DeSantis’ response To the pandemic.
So far, 10 school boards in Florida have defy DeSantis’ ban on wearing masks by formulating their own mandatory mask wearing policies. The State Board of Education has threatened to withhold wages from superintendents and school boards who fail to comply with the governor’s ban.
The presiding judge, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper (John Cooper) said he will issue a ruling on Friday morning.
Weekly newspaper Contacted DeSantis’ office for comments.
