Doctors testify in lawsuit over Florida governor’s ban on school mask mandates

(CN) — In a case challenging Republican Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban on school mask mandates, doctors who are treating Covid-19-infected children in Central Florida testified Monday about the recent rise in pediatric hospital visits linked to the disease.

A group of parents called on the doctors to testify via teleconference in their Leon County lawsuit challenging Gov. DeSantis’ July 30 executive order banning campus mask requirements. 

The parents’ lawsuit alleges that the governor’s action violated a Florida constitutional clause dictating that the Sunshine State must provide for “safe” and “secure” public schools.  

The governor’s order requires school districts to give parents the choice of whether to mask their children on campus. School districts that pass blanket mask mandates with no parental opt-out are subject to financial penalties.

During the Monday proceedings, pediatrician Juan Dumois testified about the rise in child patients infected with Covid-19 at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where he works as an infectious disease specialist.

“In volume, the numbers have gone up quite a bit lately. At our hospital, for the week ending June 27, we diagnosed two children with Covid that entire week. For the week ending Aug. 14, we had 110 test positive. ... A 50-fold increase in six weeks,” Dumois said.

Dumois testified that at the hospital, the overall proportion of pediatric cases that have resulted in severe illness and inpatient treatment is roughly the same as that of last summer's outbreak in Florida. The doctor noted, however, that rare pediatric Covid-19 complications such brain inflammation are appearing with more frequency this year as compared to last.

He said that since the start of the school year in Florida, thousands of children across the state have been quarantined due to Covid-19 infections or close contact with infected schoolmates.

The doctor stressed how important it is for children under 12 — the age of vaccine eligibility — to wear their masks, and the importance of masks for students in crowded classrooms where social distancing is not possible.

“With children going to schools and not wearing masks, it’s inevitable that the Covid-19 coronavirus will be introduced and you will have outbreaks leading to school closures and quarantining of lots of kids,” Dumois said.

Pattie Quigley, another pediatrician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, echoed Dumois’ comments about rising numbers of child patients at the facility. She said approximately one-fourth of her patients on her most recent shift at the hospital were Covid-19-positive and experiencing symptoms of the disease.  

DeSantis’ attorney, Daniel Bean, asked Dumois on cross-examination whether any Florida schools have had to close on account of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“Not yet,” Dumois replied.  

Bean repeatedly cited a May 2021 report posted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the effects of mandatory mask-wearing and improved ventilation in Georgia schools. The report was derived from surveys of more than 160 Georgia schools over a one-month period beginning in November 2020.

The study found that there was a 21% lower incidence of Covid-19 in schools with mask requirements for students, but that the figure “was not statistically significant compared with schools where mask use was optional.”

Co-counsel for DeSantis, Michael Abel, framed in-school mask requirements as a health policy issue that is off-limits to the judiciary.

“The executive order and emergency rule have a rational relationship to a legitimate government objective, and that’s giving the parents the right to make the most important choices for their children involving health and education,” he said.

Abel said the plaintiffs are asking the court to "wade into an intense political debate involving education policy, public health policy and emergency management."

In addition to testimony from the St. Petersburg doctors, Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper heard from the plaintiff parents about their concerns over the virus spreading through public schools. 

Plaintiff Amy Nell testified that she has been so worried about the Covid-19 incidence at her son’s elementary school that she has not allowed him to eat in the lunch room. She said she goes to the Hillsborough County school on a daily basis and signs the boy out for lunch, concerned that the infection control protocol in the cafeteria may be lax.

When asked about her option to place her son in virtual classes, she said the available online schools do not line up with his current curriculum.

“And if we did that, he would lose out on all of his social development. That’s really important to him. And you know, he’s in fifth grade this year so he’s like the big kid on campus, and he’s pretty proud of that. ... I don’t want to take that away from him,” Nell testified.

Nell, who is a criminal defense attorney by trade, said she decided to join the litigation as a plaintiff because she felt the governor was not “prioritizing our kids’ health and safety.”

The daily number of Covid-19-linked deaths reported in Florida recently surpassed 200 averaged over a weekly basis. In early July, that figure hovered around 30.

According to the Florida Department of Health, the Covid-19 mortality rate for children under 16 has remained low, at a fatal incidence of less than 1 per 200,000 population. Nonetheless, concerns have been raised that widespread infection among juveniles inevitably will lead to more child deaths and rampant spread among more vulnerable populations.  

The plaintiffs’ expert Thomas Unnasch, a professor at University of South Florida, testified that the contagiousness of the delta variant of the virus, which is now reported to be the dominant strain in the United States, leaves Florida in an uncertain state about the public health consequences of leaving the outbreak unchecked.

“We’re in the delta era, and in the delta era, we are in uncharted territory,” Unnasch said.  

Unnasch said that the delta variant is potentially three times as contagious as the initial predominant strain of the novel coronavirus.

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