At least 31 classrooms and schools — including two entire school districts — have shut down in Florida due to the number of students, teachers and staff in quarantine after exposure to COVID-19. The state's public schools have opened without mask requirements, and according to the Florida Department of Health more than 167,000 children under 16 have been infected with COVID since the first of August. The president of the Florida Education Association, the statewide teacher's union said QUOTE "Over 50 percent of schools have already seen or exceeded the number of cases for all of the last school year,". Thirteen children and 71 school staff have died since July 1st, based on state data and news reports collected by the Tallahassee Democrat.