County rejects Fla. governor’s school order

Students in Palm Beach County public schools will continue learning from home when classes resume next month despite a state mandate to open schools.

Under increasing pressure from teachers and local health experts, the seven board members unanimously agreed to keep classes online-only for the district’s 174,000 students until the coronavirus pandemic improves.

Florida has seen a surge in cases in recent weeks. Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly called for schools to provide in-classroom learning. This week, state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran followed through on his bosses’ commands, ordering public schools to offer in-person classes five days a week.

“We’re not ready from a health standpoint,” board member Marcia Andrews said. “And we’re not ready from a planning standpoint.” – Andrew Marra, The Palm Beach Post

Shelter-in-place order at U.S. base in Japan

A shelter-in-place order was issued at the U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Japan because of an ongoing investigation of positive coronavirus cases, the base announced Thursday on its Facebook page.

Atsugi, about 20 miles southwest of Tokyo, is home to about 10,000 servicemembers, support staff and family members.

“This shelter-in-place directive has been put in place to safeguard the community and prevent any future spread,” the post said. “Further guidance is forthcoming.”

Mayor cancels Texas GOP convention

As COVID-19 cases and deaths spike in Texas, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner canceled the Republican Party’s in-person convention scheduled for next week.

“The public health concern for our first responders, convention workers, and those who would have attended weighed heavily in our decision making,” Turner said on Twitter.

The convention was scheduled to take place from July 16-18 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston.

“Houston is a hot spot right now in a global pandemic and we cannot have thousands of people gathering inside the George R. Brown,” Turner said at a news conference Wednesday.

The mayor said the city of Houston looks forward to hosting future conventions at a safer time.

Events, Trump rally ‘likely’ led to spike

Tulsa Health Department Executive Director Bruce Dart says it was “more than likely” that large gatherings in the last few weeks, including President Donald Trump’s local rally, prompted the record number of cases this week.

A record 261 new cases of the virus were recorded in the county Monday, just over two weeks after Trump’s rally, which drew about 6,200 attendees and hundreds of protesters.

An additional 206 cases were reported on Tuesday, according to the Tulsa Health Department.

“The past few days we’ve had almost 500 cases, and we know we had several large events a little over two weeks ago, which is about right, so I guess we just connect the dots,” Dart said, citing Trump’s rally and “other protests.”

– Jeanine Santucci Contributing: John Bacon and Jessica Flores, USA TODAY; The Associated Press