Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber slams Florida governor Ron DeSantis The mandatory wearing of masks in schools was banned on Saturday, and it hinted that masks were ineffective because of the sharp increase in the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the state.
The actions taken by DeSantis to prevent COVID-19 restrictions have aroused the outrage of local officials, including Gelber, who accused the governor of banning “killing” wearing masks.
“The governor has turned this into a political issue. He almost treats children as political pawns. He is not worried about us, he is making some political views for the national elections,” Gelber said CNN“His policy is actually to kill people.”
This summer, as COVID-19 cases surged across the state, DeSantis banned local officials from imposing COVID-19 restrictions, including mandating schools to wear masks. His name has become a possible 2024 presidential candidate . After many school districts in Florida vowed to defy his ban on wearing masks, DeSantis also threatened to withhold funding for teachers.
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“It’s obvious at this point because he doesn’t have any indicators to look for and say that his policies are good for Floridans,” Gelber said. “You have local school officials who actually have to act bravely and may lose their jobs and income to protect the children who are selected by the family for these positions.”
In recent months, Florida has led the United States in the number of new coronavirus cases, with the highest rate of hospitalizations for children. There has been a slight decline in cases in the past week-from 151,500 cases last week to approximately 150,500-but the death toll has increased from approximately 1,070 cases last week to 1,480 cases this week.
At a summit on Wednesday, DeSantis criticized the effectiveness of wearing masks to control the spread of the virus in the community. He said: “Politicians want to force you to cover your face as a way for them to cover their ass… Even if it is not proven to be effective.”
Gelber condemned DeSantis’ remarks, calling it “absolutely stupid.”
“He should be there to try to get people to wear masks. Various major medical groups, including pediatricians, say it is healthy,” he said. “We have a lot of freedom, but we also admit that we all live together. If you send your child to school and say’he doesn’t wear a mask’, he may infect another child.”
DeSantis did not take restrictive measures to limit the spread of the virus. Instead, he let the health experts around him promote more targeted responses to the pandemic, such as the controversial Stanford University professor Jay Ba Tacharya (Jay Bhattacharya).
Weekly newspaper Contact DeSantis’ office for comments.
