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posted ago by Oh_Well_ian ago by Oh_Well_ian +140 / -1

https://archive.is/IxRKG

Four teachers from Broward County, Florida died from COVID-19 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

One was a high school teacher while another taught elementary school. A teaching assistant and the fourth teacher were from the same school.

The deaths come even as Broward County's school board voted to defy a ban on mask mandates on school premises.

Three teachers and a teaching assistant from Broward County, Florida, have died from COVID-19 within a span of 24 hours, the Broward Teachers' Union told NBC Miami on Thursday.

In July, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates for Florida public schools, despite rising cases among children in the state. Earlier this week, more than 800 Florida physicians signed an open letter to DeSantis urging him to revise his policy.

"This past week, COVID-19 has infected more than 19,000 Floridians every day, the worst weekly infection rate since the pandemic began, and hospitalized an average of 1,800 Floridians daily," the letter said. "In the last week of July, at least 35 children were hospitalized every day for COVID-19 in Florida, a number that is very likely an undercount since Gov. DeSantis stopped sharing COVID-19 statistics."

Rather than issue mask mandates, DeSantis has rolled out a program to provide Regeneron monoclonal antibodies through clinics - the same treatment former President Trump received when he tested positive for COVID.