Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is looking to help college kids and their “bill of rights.”
According to reports, DeSantis wants to protect students from being kicked out of college for attending parties or other social gatherings restricted by colleges and universities amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“I understand that universities are trying to do the right thing,” DeSantis said during a news briefing at the Capitol, “but I personally think it’s dramatically draconian that a student could get potentially expelled for going to a party. That’s what college kids do.”
According to the Associated Press, the Republican governor is trying to prevent local governments from shutting down restaurants again. To support his movement, he claims there is little proof that closing down these businesses has aided in stopping the spread of the virus.
The state just reported 2,541 more cases, which brings the state’s total to more than 693,000 confirmed cases. Among those cases were 177 more deaths, pushing the death toll to 13 795.
As for now, cities and counties have mostly reopened eateries, but have placed a more limiting cap on capacity. DeSantis made his announcements at a virtual roundtable, which also included three experts who discussed the measures surrounding school closures and masks requirements.
DeSantis said following the virtual event that “we’ve got to be reasonable about this and really focus the efforts on where the most significant risk is,” The Hill reported.
At the beginning of September, local health officials in Orlando informed the public that they were not allowed to release COVID-19 details involving public schools due to privacy rules. However, the Orlando Sentinel reported that health officials had previously reported the number of cases that were associated with schools, which included the number of students and staff under quarantine.
