A Florida chiropractor issued over 500 mask exemptions for students in Sarasota County

• A chiropractor in Florida signed more than 500 mask exemptions for students attending schools in Sarasota County, reported the Herald-Tribune.
• District spokesman Craig Maniglia said a third of all medical exemptions received were signed by chiropractor Dan Busch at Twin Palms Chiropractic.
• Sarasota County is one of 10 school districts in Florida imposing a mask mandate, going against the governor's order.
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A chiropractor in Florida signed more than 500 mask exemptions for students attending schools in Sarasota County, reported the Herald-Tribune.

District spokesman Craig Maniglia told the Herald-Tribune a third of all medical exemptions the district received were signed by chiropractor Dan Busch at Twin Palms Chiropractic.

The county started imposing mask mandates on students on Monday, defying Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' executive order banning mask mandates.

After rumors started circulating that Busch was giving out pre-signed medical exception forms, Sarasota County Schools Superintendent Brennan Asplen issued an updated mask exemption form on Tuesday.

Mask exemptions can now only be issued by licensed medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, or advanced registered nurse practitioners, Asplen said in the statement.

Busch has denied accusations that he was giving out pre-signed forms. "I myself, I will tell you I have not given exemptions to any parents that I have not met with," Busch told NBC-affiliated television station WESH.

"I am not an anti-mask person or an anti-vax person, but I am a pro-freedom, pro-choice person," Busch told the television station.

Sarasota County is one of 10 school districts in Florida going ahead with mask mandates against the governor's order. Two school districts have had their funding withheld but are still continuing with the mandate.

Florida is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases among children. According to weekly data released by Florida's health department, cases among children under 12 were up 30% in the week ending August 26 as compared to the week before, while COVID-19 cases among those between ages 12 and 19 were up 26%.

The state has fully vaccinated close to 55% of its 21.5-million population, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The United States, as a whole, has fully vaccinated 53.3% of its entire population, per JHU.