When new Covid-19 infections and hospitalizations began soaring in Louisiana in July, state health officials were struggling with data gaps that blinded them to the full threat of the Delta variant.
The Education Department on Monday opened civil rights investigations into five Republican-led states that have banned or limited mask requirements in schools, saying the policies could amount to discrimination against students with disabilities or health conditions.
The department’s Office for Civil Rights announced the investigations in letters to education chiefs in Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. Those states have issued varying prohibitions on mask requirements, which the office says could prevent some students from safely attending school.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona accused the states of “putting politics over the health and education of the students they took an oath to serve.”
“The department will fight to protect every student’s right to access in-person learning safely,” Cardona said in a statement.
(CNN) With nearly 100,000 Americans hospitalized with Covid-19 and infections surging among the unvaccinated population, it's possible another 100,000 people could die from the virus by December, according to a recent University of Washington model.
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