Florida’s newly appointed surgeon general issued a new emergency rule Wednesday that makes drastic changes to COVID-19 safety protocols in schools.
The rule, “Protocols for Controlling COVID-19 in School Settings,” most immediately changes the way students who are exposed to COVID-19 quarantine after the fact.
Saying that students’ guardians “have a fundamental right to make health care decisions for their minor children,” the rule now makes quarantining optional for asymptomatic students.
The new rule also changes the language concerning school mask mandates, saying now that wearing a mask is the “parent or legal guardian’s sole discretion.”
For his part, Ladapo said he approached school COVID-19 protocols simply by taking account of the “costs and benefits of managing this pandemic.”
“We would make policies about public health that considered both costs and benefits,” he said. “So, when I went to graduate school, that was not a radical idea, that was just sensible.”
That cost vs. benefit take on school pandemic safety precautions is what prompted the new emergency protocols announced Wednesday, particularly the change in how students should quarantine, Ladapo said.
“Our new rule today is an example of that,” he said. “So, when you look at the data, about what the benefits are of taking healthy children who happen to be exposed to another child or adult who’s tested positive for COVID-19, and taking that child out of school for a week or longer due to quarantine, what are the data about benefits? So basically, there’s no high-quality data about benefits.”
“We’re about 18 months into this pandemic, and there’s not a single high-quality study that shows that any child has ever benefited from that policy,” he added, without explaining what constitutes a “high-quality” study.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s schools coronavirus prevention guidance, any unvaccinated student who has close contact with someone infected with COVID-19 should “quarantine at home for 14 days after exposure.”
Like DeSantis, Ladapo has said that, in general, he doesn’t believe in school closures, lockdowns or vaccine mandates.
“Florida will completely reject fear as a way of making policies in public health. So we’re done with fear,” he said Tuesday. “That’s been something that’s been, unfortunately, a centerpiece of health policy in the United States ever since the beginning of the pandemic and it’s over here. Expiration date. It’s done.”
“We’re going to be very explicit about the differences between the science and our opinions,” he added. “What’s been happening over the past year is that people have been taking the science and they’ve been misrepresenting it … it’s been unclear when the discussion about science ends and discussion about how you feel about the science and what you want people to do with the science begins.”
Lapado, who received his medical degree and a Ph.D. in health policy from Harvard University, will replace Dr. Scott Rivkees, whose contract expires at the end of the month.
Lapado has also said vaccines aren’t the only way to combat COVID-19 and getting one is a personal choice.
“Vaccines are up to the person. There’s nothing special about them compared to any other preventive measure,” he said. “The state should be promoting good health, and vaccination isn’t the only path to that. It’s been treated almost like a religion. It’s just senseless. There’s lots of good pathways to health.”
He said in addition to vaccines, people should be encouraged to lose weight, exercise more and eat healthier.