DeSantis Wrong About Vaccines, Fauci Says; Covid Swamps Georgia Schools

NPR: Fauci Says DeSantis Is 'Completely Incorrect' To Call Vaccine A Mere Personal Choice
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is "completely incorrect" to suggest vaccines are a personal choice with no broad implications, says Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country's top infectious disease authority. "If [DeSantis] feels that vaccines are not important for people, that they're just important for some people, that's completely incorrect," Fauci said after being asked about DeSantis' views during an interview Tuesday with CNN. Vaccines have been the solution to public health crises such as smallpox, polio and measles, Fauci said — but they rely on wide adoption to work, he added. (Chappell, 9/7)

CNN: 13 Miami-Dade School Employees Have Died Of Covid-19 Since Mid-August
Thirteen school employees from Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN on Tuesday. Among the 13 were four teachers, one security monitor, one cafeteria worker and seven school bus drivers, United Teachers of Dade President Karla Hernandez-Mats said. All were unvaccinated. "These were extraordinary educators and people, and their loss is being felt throughout the community," Hernandez-Mats said. (Stuart, 9/7)

Health News Florida: St. Johns Schools Report 25 Times As Many COVID Cases, Year Over Year 
St. Johns County public schools had recorded 881 COVID cases as of Thursday — more than 25 times the number of cases in the district after the first 14 school days of the 2020 school year. By the end of the third week of 2020-21, 35 students and staff had tested positive. District officials released COVID case counts going back to the start of the 2020-21 school year in response to a public records request from WJCT News. The St. Johns County School District shares daily COVID case counts to its website, and has posted historical COVID data going back to November 2020. (Heddles, 9/7)

Reuters: Florida Teachers On Edge As Mask War, COVID Surge Mark First Weeks Of School 
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten crouched to sit at a first-graders’ table in a Florida school, chatting with masked 6-year-olds about books and their former kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Smith. Lillian Smith, a local union steward who taught at William A. Chapman Elementary in Miami-Dade County for more than 30 years, died last month of COVID-19. At least four Miami-Dade County teachers or staff have died from COVID so far this school year, as cases and hospitalizations in Florida have soared. (Borter, 9/7)

And in news from Georgia —

AP: Virus: School District Goes Virtual After 3 Bus Workers Die
Another Georgia school district is switching to virtual learning, after two school bus drivers and a bus monitor died from COVID-19 in recent weeks. The 9,700-student Griffin-Spalding County school system made the announcement late Monday, citing a disruption in student transportation. Districts across Georgia are struggling to line up enough drivers and monitors to keep buses running. In Savannah, some bus drivers staged a sickout for the second day on Tuesday after a similar protest on Friday. (Amy, 9/7)

Savannah Morning News: Savannah-Chatham Bus Driver Protest Continues; Students Without Rides
Savannah-Chatham public school bus driver Joyce Mallory sat in the blistering heat on Tuesday with a poster featuring four of her colleagues. The two drivers and two monitors were dedicated and loved their job. All four died from COVID-19 and two others are currently in the hospital batting the virus, Mallory said. (Nussbaum, 9/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: COVID Cases In Metro Atlanta Schools Surpass 24,000 In First Weeks
Metro Atlanta school districts recorded more than 24,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the school year, according to the latest data reports. As of Saturday, the cumulative case count for 14 area districts was 24,270. The number will grow because the Clayton County School District has not yet posted last week’s numbers. The overall total for last week alone was nearly 6,000. Some districts saw their case counts drop due to a shortened week of classes timed to the Labor Day holiday. (Hogan and Peebles, 9/8)

Macon Telegraph: Bibb County GA Schools Go Virtual Due To COVID Case 
The Bibb County School District starts two weeks of remote learning today, a measure prompted by the spread COVID-19 cases in the community and the Labor Day holiday, school officials said. The district plans to return to in-person classes Sept. 20. The pandemic continues to worsen in Middle Georgia because of the highly contagious delta variant and vaccination rates that continue to hover below 50%. The state health department most recently reported more than 9,000 new cases, and Georgia has more people hospitalized for COVID-19 than ever before. (Slinkard and Perrineau, 9/7)