Florida on Sunday reported the highest number of children hospitalized with Covid – 172 – since the beginning of the pandemic.

Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert with Florida International University told CNN: “The numbers of cases in our hospitals in children and our children’s hospitals are completely overwhelmed.”

The high number of hospitalizations coincide with the beginning of the school year. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has refused to allow school districts to mandate masks for students or staff, and threatened to withhold funding if he’s defied. It’s a move that has been widely criticized.

“I can’t think of a business right now that would put 30 unvaccinated people in a confined space without masks and keep them there for the whole day…and yet that’s what we’re going to be doing in some schools.”

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Via CBS

But in Miami, the superintendent says he will be guided by science, not politics.

Amid controversy over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ order banning masks in schools, Miami-Dade superintendent says his school system has been “guided by science all along…and we’re not going to abdicate that position.” pic.twitter.com/mwmNOOaWWB

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) August 8, 2021

CNN notes:

The CDC recommends that everyone — students, teachers, staff and visitors — wear masks in schools.And while the CDC says 50% of the total population is fully vaccinated, children under 12 are still not cleared to be inoculated.