Ron DeSantis

Florida teachers fear Gov. Ron DeSantis is risking the lives of educators and children as part of the Republican Party's long-running fight to break public schools.

The Florida Republican has issued an executive order prohibiting local school districts from imposing mask orders, despite a record surge in COVID-19 cases, and has threatened to strip salaries from superintendents who require face coverings in the classroom -- and educators are terrified and furious, reported The Daily Beast.

Parents in Florida concerned about their unvaccinated school-aged children are supporting – or forcing – local schools and school boards, and local governments to implement mask mandates in defiance of Ron DeSantis' ban. The Republican governor has banned any government agency or local government from implementing a mask or vaccine mandate as the Sunshine State remains among the top states in the nation for number of adults hospitalized for coronavirus, number of children hospitalized for coronavirus, and number of new coronavirus cases – and number of new coronavirus deaths.

"Florida has the highest number of children hospitalized from COVID of any state in the country," Newsweek reports Monday. The even-stronger delta plus variant has also surfaced in Florida.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was blasted on MSNBC on Monday for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Over the weekend, Florida didn't merely break its single-day COVID-19 case record — the state shattered it, according to numbers reported by the Centers or Disease Control and Prevention Monday," the Miami Herald reports. "The CDC halved the weekend data sent by the state of Florida, 56,633 new cases, and put 28,316 new cases Saturday and 28,317 new cases Sunday. Either number blasts the state past the previous high of 23,903 established on Friday by 18.5%."

Fox News was apparently still angry about a segment CNN ran on Saturday.

In that segment, CNN anchor Jim Acosta suggested naming future COVID-19 variants after Republican governors refusing to utilize public health measures.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year signed a bill banning schools from mandating face masks, but some school districts are testing that law as they head back to class.

Tallahassee's school superintendent has vowed to defy the DeSantis mandate ban by saying that they will mandate masks in their schools. Florida State University is also mandating that all teachers and students wear masks.

South Carolina's Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, has been raking in cash as he eyes a potential 2024 GOP presidential bid.

If he runs, Scott's campaign could be almost single-handedly financed by Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, the seventh-richest person in the world, who recently gave Scott's super PAC $10 million — Ellison's largest political donation ever — according to a report from Politico.

MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski expressed horror over the death of an anti-vaccine conservative talk show host.

Dick Farrel, a vaccine skeptic and outspoken critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci, died last week of complications from COVID-19, and the "Morning Joe" co-host blasted former president Donald Trump for turning his supporters against sensible measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner told CNN Sunday that the COVID-19 viral load is so substantial in Florida that there are only two other places on the planet that are worse: Louisiana and Botswana.

Speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta, Dr. Reiner had a sharp warning for anyone traveling to the state in the next few weeks.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) appears to have lost his anti-vaccine passport war, for now, at least.

U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams approved an injunction Sunday, saying, "public health will be jeopardized" if Norwegian Cruises (NCLH) would be forced to suspend its vaccination requirement due to the DeSantis' law.

Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was questioned by host Dana Bash about the latest COVID-19 surge of infections which then led him to give some stern advice to fellow Republican Ron DeSantis.

Cassidy -- a practicing gastroenterologist when he entered politics in 2006 -- was asked about the Florida Republican issuing executive orders banning local officials from enforcing mask mandates as the pandemic ravages the state with the senator responding he was speaking as both a doctor and a conservative.

CNN anchor Jim Acosta on Saturday blasted Republican governors for refusing to implement public policy measure to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

"As the Delta variant is raging across the U.S., the nation remains divided between states fighting the virus and states fighting the science. States led by politicians who know better. Case in point, Florida," Acosta reported.