Florida: Over 5,000 students quarantine or isolate because of Covid in one school district

Over 5,000 students quarantine or isolate because of Covid in Florida school district Hillsborough County Public Schools administrators called an emergency meeting to consider a potential mask mandate "for all students and staff." NBC News

More than 5,000 students and hundreds of employees in a single Florida school district have tested positive for Covid-19 or may have been exposed to the coronavirus, school officials said Monday.

Hillsborough County Public Schools said in a statement that 5,599 students and 316 staff members are in isolation or quarantine.

The district, which includes Tampa, serves over 200,000 students in more than 200 elementary, middle and high schools, according to its website. It is the seventh largest in the country. ...

The deaths of two teachers and a teacher's assistant from Covid in Broward County rattled residents as children began to return to classrooms, even as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis challenged school districts that flout his ban on mask mandates for schoolchildren. ...