440 Florida schoolkids quarantined after return to classoom

Palm Beach County, Florida, students returned to school Tuesday—and by Thursday, at least 440 of them were in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19 or being exposed to an infected person. Superintendent Michael Burke said Thursday that 57 COVID cases had been confirmed—37 students and 14 employees, the Sun-Sentinel reports—but the totals on a county dashboard were updated late Thursday to 105 students and 26 employees. Burke blamed the number of cases on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order allowing students to opt-out of mask mandates with a note from their parents,

A district spokesperson said Thursday that 6,394 of around 167,000 students in Palm Beach County schools have opted out wearing masks, WPTV reports. Burke said he is worried that unless there is a change to the rules, cases will grow exponentially, forcing more students to learn from home.