Crist denounces new COVID school policy; seeks ouster of new surgeon general

Democrat Charlie Crist denounced Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday as an “oppressive tyrant” willing to send coronavirus-infected children into the public schools and risk the health of other children to please his COVID-skeptical political base.

During a Zoom press conference, the Democratic congressman from St. Petersburg — also a gubernatorial candidate for 2022 — argued that a new Florida Department of Health regulation giving parents autonomy to send their kids to class even if exposed or infected with the coronavirus, as long as they are asymptomatic, directly violates guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The regulation, issued on Wednesday by Florida’s new surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, threatens all the work local officials have invested in containing the coronavirus, Crist told reporters.

“Which is why I have called on Dr. Ladapo to be removed from office before the innocent children get hurt,” Crist said.

“The governor and his cronies have lost a grip on reality facing our state and are endlessly pandering to their base regardless of Floridians that they hurt,” he said.

Read more: https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/09/23/crist-denounces-new-covid-school-policy-seeks-ouster-of-new-surgeon-general/