“The resurgent coronavirus is quickly showing up in Tampa Bay area public schools, far exceeding last year’s levels as classes get underway, according to official tallies. In the first week of the new school year, the Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando county school districts reported 961 cases of COVID-19 among students and staff. That’s dramatically higher than the 116 cases the four systems recorded during the first two weeks of last school year,” reports the Tampa Bay Times.

“It was not until mid-October – eight weeks after classes started — that the districts passed the 1,000-case mark last year. Roughly 400,000 students returned to campuses across the region this past week, with classes starting Tuesday in Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando, and on Wednesday in Pinellas [counties]. Many children wore masks, and many did not, as they arrived amid a tense public debate over whether Florida should mandate face coverings to help slow a stubborn rise in infections.”

“Pinellas counted 203 cases on Wednesday and Thursday, with Friday’s numbers yet to be released on Monday. This time last year, the district had reported 16 cases. After two weeks, the total stood at 41. In Hillsborough, officials reported 475 cases for the first four days compared to 41 for the first five school days of 2020. Pasco County reported 191 cases this past week, compared to 29 cases in the first two weeks of last school year. And 92 first-week cases were reported in Hernando County, the area’s smallest district, which last year got through many weeks with one or two dozen cases.”

The surge in case numbers occurs at the same time that over 800 Florida physicians signed an open-letter to failed Florida Governor and potential co-defendant in the Gaetz teen sex orgy scandal Ron DeSantis, asking for a roll-back of an executive order banning School district mask and teacher vaccination mandates and news from a Florida teachers union of four teachers dying from Covid in a single day.