By Kyle Becker | Becker News
Despite the incessant caterwauling of the mainstream media, Governor Ron DeSantis has once again shown that his Covid-19 policies for the State of Florida are based on common sense and sound science. Most importantly, they respect the constitutional rights of American citizens in the state.
Gov. DeSantis’ press secretary Christina Pushaw released the results from weeks of data that showed schools that obeyed the Florida law and allowed children to attend school without masks on saw no statistically significant difference in outcomes compared to the rogue school districts that imposed mask mandates in defiance of state law. Here are the results:
NEW PEDIATRIC CASES: New COVID-19 cases for children ages 5-17 – the vast majority of the school-aged population – have decreased 79% in the month of September, in the 54 Florida counties where school districts have no masking policy or are following state law by honoring the parental opt-out rule. For comparison, COVID-19 cases for children 5-17 in the 13 districts that imposed forced-masking in schools have decreased 77%, on average. POSITIVITY RATES: The 54 districts with opt-outs or no mask policy have seen an average decrease of 65% in positivity from week ending Aug. 19 (when school started) to the week ending Sep. 30. The 13 districts that broke the law to impose forced-masking have seen an average decrease of 67%. That is to say, the data for this school year to date shows no impact of forced masking in schools on pediatric COVID-19 prevalence. This is not surprising, since there were no statistically significant differences in case rates in forced-masking versus mask-optional schools during the 2020-21 school year in Florida.
The State of Florida now has the second-lowest rate of Covid-19 infection in the country and hospitalizations are down 73% since mid-August.
At 27 new infections per 100,000 people, Florida now has the second lowest rate of COVID-19 infection in the entire country. Since the August 25 peak, the number of estimated infections by Nowcasting (covidestim.org) has decreased 95.9 percent. The reproductive transmission number (Rt) statewide is at 0.49 from a peak value of 1.45 on July 15. At 4.8% positivity rate over the past 7 days, Florida would now be considered “low transmission” according to CDC guidance. Cases on a 7 day average have fallen 77 percent in the past month alone. The number of cases reported yesterday was the lowest since July 5. COVID-19 hospitalizations are down to 4,562. This is a decrease of 73% since the August 22 peak, and more than 40 consecutive days of decline. According to HHS data updated today, just 8.45% of inpatient beds in Florida hospitals are being used for COVID-19 patients. This is lower than the national average of 9.71%.
Florida is once again an example to the rest of the United States. Children are not statistically ‘at-risk’ from Covid any more than the seasonal flu. Furthermore, masks not only fail to prevent transmission, they surely do more harm than imagined good. DeSantis was right. Again.
Author: Kyle Becker
Source: Kyle Becker: DeSantis Was Right, Again: New Florida Data Reveal ‘No Impact of Forced Masking in Schools’
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