• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About Us
  • Videos
    • Featured Video
    • Foodie Friday
    • Monthly ReCap
  • Online E-Editions
    • This Week’s E-Editions
    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
  • Social Media
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
  • Advertising
  • Local Jobs
  • Puzzles & Games
  • Circulation Request

The Laker/Lutz News

  • Home
  • News
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills/East Pasco
    • Business Digest
    • Senior Parks
    • Nature Notes
    • Featured Stories
    • Photos of the Week
    • Reasons To Smile
  • Sports
    • Land O’ Lakes
    • Lutz
    • Wesley Chapel/New Tampa
    • Zephyrhills and East Pasco
    • Check This Out
  • Education
  • Pets/Wildlife
  • Health
    • Health Events
    • Health News
  • What’s Happening
  • Sponsored Content
    • Closer Look
  • Homes
  • Obits
  • Public Notices

Biden Administration

Florida changes COVID student quarantine protocols

September 28, 2021 By B.C. Manion

Florida parents now have the power to decide whether a healthy child should be taken out of school because of exposure to COVID-19.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran joined together on Sept. 22, to announce that the Florida Department of Health issued a new rule, empowering families to make that decision.

The new emergency rule, which became effective on Sept. 22, prevents the unnecessary exclusion of healthy students from in-person schooling; safeguards the rights of parents and legal guardians and their children; provides health protocols for symptomatic or COVID-19-positive students; and provides opportunities for parents and legal guardians to choose which protocols to implement when their student has had direct contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, according to a news release posted on the governor’s web page.

“Parents have the right to have their healthy kids in school,” DeSantis said, in the release.

“In-person education is important for students’ well-being, their educational advancement, and their social development. The idea that schools are somehow a big problem when it comes to the spread of the virus has been refuted yet again. Not only is the forced quarantining of healthy children disruptive to a student’s education, but many folks in Florida are not able to work from home. With this rule, we are following a symptom-based approach to quarantining students in Florida.”

The state’s new surgeon general added: “The governor and I share a similar vision of weighing the costs and benefits of public health policies – and our new rule today is an example of that,” Ladapo said, in the release.

“We must make sure that we are doing what is right for parents and for students. There’s not a single high-quality study that shows that any child has ever benefited from forced quarantining policies, but we have seen demonstrable and considerable harm to children. It’s important to respect the rights of parents.”

Corcoran also commented: “What we did over the past year was nothing less than amazing – we gave parents in our state the option to send their children to school for face-to-face instruction with more students, over a longer time than any state in the nation – but we did see massive quarantining,” said Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, father of six kids who missed over 100 days of school last year due to quarantines.

“If you take the number of kids that had to quarantine, and added up the days they missed in school, in the education arena, we would call that a chronic absenteeism pandemic. Now we have the data telling us that factually 98% of those children who quarantined never became symptomatic. That’s why the previous policy didn’t make any sense. This is a brilliant change, and I’m so thankful for this new common-sense rule.”

On another COVID-19-related issue, DeSantis announced that Florida has secured 3,000 doses of monoclonal antibody treatments directly from GlaxoSmithKline, after the Biden Administration cut the supply.

“We should be doing everything we can to get patients monoclonal antibody treatments, not cutting allocations of treatment like the Biden Administration has done,” DeSantis said, in a release on his web page.

Florida has been aggressive in making this treatment available.

Meanwhile, on the issue of Pfizer booster shots, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that these groups of people receive Pfizer booster shots, six months after their initial series of shots:

  • People 65 years and older, and residents in long-term care settings
  • People aged 50 to 64 years with underlying medical conditions
  • People aged 18 to 49 years with underlying medical conditions, based on individual benefits and risks
  • People aged 18 to 64 years who are at increased risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmission because of occupational or institutional setting

According to the CDC, many people now eligible to receive a booster shot received their initial vaccine early in the vaccination program and will benefit from additional protection.

“With the Delta variant’s dominance as the circulating strain and cases of COVID-19 increasing significantly across the United States, a booster shot will help strengthen protection against severe disease in those populations who are at high risk for exposure to COVID-19 or the complications from severe disease,” according to information on the CDC’s website.

The CDC also will evaluate available data in the coming weeks to make additional recommendations for other populations or people who got the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the website says.

COVID Numbers

Pasco County Schools*
Student cases: 5,317
Employee cases: 900

Hillsborough County Schools*
Student cases: 9,145
Employee cases: 1,520

*Cumulative for school year, as of Sept. 24

Sources: Pasco County Schools and Hillsborough County Schools

Pasco County*
Cases: 1,851
Positivity rate: 13.8%

Hillsborough County*
Cases: 3,841
Positivity rate: 9.7%

*Week of Sept. 17 to Sept. 23

Source: Florida Department of Health

Published September 29, 2021

Primary Sidebar

A Conversation with Lutz Filmmaker, Alexis Yahre

Search

Sponsored Content

A Guide for Summer Camps in Pasco County 

May 23, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Summer break is quickly approaching and organizations throughout Pasco County are offering camps for children of all … [Read More...] about A Guide for Summer Camps in Pasco County 

Avalon Applauds Kids Helping Kids Pasco County 

May 10, 2022 By Special to The Laker/Lutz News

Congratulations to Kids Helping Kids Pasco County for being applauded by Avalon Park Wesley Chapel. The nonprofit … [Read More...] about Avalon Applauds Kids Helping Kids Pasco County 

More Posts from this Category

What’s Happening

05/23/2022 – Republican Club

The Central Pasco Republican Club will meet on May 23 at Copperstone Executive Suites, 3632 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. The guest speaker will be Pasco County School Board member Megan Harding, who will present a rundown on the state of education in Pasco County, and what the school board can and cannot do in today’s world. A social will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the meeting at 6:30 p.m. For information, call 813-996-3011. … [Read More...] about 05/23/2022 – Republican Club

05/26/2022 – Food distribution

Farm Share, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, Pasco Sheriff Charities, the Pasco County NAACP, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay will partner for a free food distribution on May 26 starting at 9 a.m., at the Boys & Girls Club of Lacoochee, 38724 Mudcat Grant Blvd., in Dade City. Food will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last. The event is a drive-thru, rain or shine. … [Read More...] about 05/26/2022 – Food distribution

05/28/2022 – Memorial Day Concert

The “Let’s Do Good Memorial Day Concert” is scheduled for May 28 from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Land O’ Lakes Heritage Park, 5401 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., to benefit the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. Tunnel to Towers provides mortgage-free homes to Gold Star and fallen first responder families with young children, and builds custom-designed smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders. The foundation is committed to eradicating veteran homelessness and aiding the victims of major U.S. disasters. The event will include vendors, gifts, a Forget-Me-Not Garden, and more. Entertainment will be provided by Fred Chandler, Charles Goodwin, Cruz Er Mac, Mike Henderson, and Travis White. Special guests include Congressman Gus Bilirakis and State Sen. Danny Burgess. Rain date is Sept. 10. … [Read More...] about 05/28/2022 – Memorial Day Concert

05/28/2022 – Seafood Festival-CANCELLED

The North Tampa Bay Chamber’s Summer Seafood Festival is scheduled for May 28 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Tampa Premium Outlets, 2300 Grand Cypress Drive in Lutz, between the outlets and At Home. There will be seafood, crab races, a kids zone, live bands, craft beer, a local market, a Nautical Art Show, and a crab claw-eating contest. For information, call 727-674-1464. … [Read More...] about 05/28/2022 – Seafood Festival-CANCELLED

06/04/2022 – D-Day reenactment

The Zephyrhills Museum of Military History, 39444 South Ave., in Zephyrhills, will present “D-Day, Invasion of Normandy” on June 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. The event will include skydivers, reenactors, World War II veterans, and WWII vehicles/aircraft on display. Visit zmmh.org/events, for additional information. … [Read More...] about 06/04/2022 – D-Day reenactment

06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

Save the date: A Dade City Community Cleanup is scheduled for June 11 from 8 a.m. to noon. The city will provide two garbage trucks and one roll-off to dispose of household waste. Residents will be able to drop off unwanted items at three locations. Volunteers also are needed and can register online at DadeCityFl.com. More information will be forthcoming. … [Read More...] about 06/11/2022 – Community cleanup

More of What's Happening

Follow us on Twitter

The Laker/Lutz NewsFollow

Home for all your local news in Land O' Lakes, Lutz, New Tampa, Wesley Chapel, Zephyrhills and Dade City.

The Laker/Lutz News
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
22 May

SUNDAY MORNING SPORTS: Wyatt Deaton, 11, of Wesley Chapel, swam 2 miles and raised $5,900 for charity at the Swim Across America fundraising event. Great picture @MikeCamunas! Full story ---> https://buff.ly/3lktCIv

Reply on Twitter 1528367595258265600Retweet on Twitter 15283675952582656001Like on Twitter 15283675952582656001Twitter 1528367595258265600
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
21 May

Go Pasco — Pasco County’s public bus service — is planning to use technology to enable riders to get up-to-date information to track buses in real time https://buff.ly/3aafXS6

Reply on Twitter 1528073180073574404Retweet on Twitter 1528073180073574404Like on Twitter 15280731800735744042Twitter 1528073180073574404
LakerLutzNewsThe Laker/Lutz News@LakerLutzNews·
21 May

What an AMAZING transformation! 💫 The Block is housed in a historic building that was an auto dealership in the 1920s. Now, its a venue space, a brewhouse, a restaurant, a CrossFit gym and more ---> https://buff.ly/3PsLvTo

3
Reply on Twitter 1528027975391772673Retweet on Twitter 15280279753917726731Like on Twitter 15280279753917726731Twitter 1528027975391772673
Load More...

Archives

 

 

Where to pick up The Laker and Lutz News

Copyright © 2022 Community News Publications Inc.

    Doc