Two educators in Florida share how the rising number of COVID-19 cases and loose enforcement of safety measures in schools has brought a new level of daily stress into their classrooms.
David Berger teaches 12th grade English in Florida. He’s fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but he’s not comfortable asking his students if they are or asking them to wear face masks while at school.
After returning to in-person schooling for the fall, Berger has watched fewer students wear masks every day. Now, he said about 1 in 10 students is wearing a mask at any given time.
Last year, Berger’s school district in Land O’ Lakes — about a 20-minute drive from Tampa — would send out emails to staff when someone tested positive for COVID-19. “This year, they’re not doing that,” Berger told Healthline. “I know there have been cases this year, but I don’t know how many.”
That level of uncertainty is being felt all over Florida.
Just over half of eligible residents ages 12 and older are considered fully vaccinated in the state, even as the Delta variant continues to tear through primarily unvaccinated residents and visitors.
That’s of concern to many educators in the Sunshine State, especially after four teachers died of COVID-19 within 24 hours of each other in Broward County, which includes popular tourist destinations like Fort Lauderdale.
“Within a 24-hour span, we had an assistant teacher pass away, a teacher at her school pass away, an elementary teacher pass away, and another teacher at a high school,” Broward Teachers Union president Anna Fusco told CBS Miami.
Source: healthline