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COVID-19 live updates: Judge rules governor stop banning mask mandates in schools

Ten Florida school districts have adopted mask mandates for students this month.

Last Updated: August 28, 2021, 7:23 PM EDT

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 634,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 60.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 27, 2021, 1:05 PM EDT

Judge rules Florida governor stop banning mask mandates in schools

A Tallahassee judge ruled Friday that Florida school boards can enact student mask mandates, going against Gov. Ron DeSantis, who in July issued an executive order that set off a public feud with school districts.

Students at Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor K-8 Center in Bay Harbor Islands, Fla., wear face masks during anevent on Aug. 26, 2021.
Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP

Judge John C. Cooper found that a blanket ban on face masks in schools "does not meet constitutional muster" and ordered the Florida Department of Education to stop enforcing a state rule that requires districts to allow parents to opt-out of mask mandates.

Students walk out of iPrep Academy on the first day of school, Aug. 23, 2021, in Miami.
Lynne Sladky/AP

Cooper, over about two hours, picked apart the state's defense, saying the science presented during the weeklong trial did not support the state's argument against masking children.

Ten Florida school districts have adopted mask mandates for students this month. Two -- Broward and Alachua -- were sanctioned by the Florida commissioner of education, who said he would begin withholding the salaries of board members who voted to require masks.  

DeSantis will "immediately appeal" the ruling, the governor's press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said in a statement. "This ruling was made with incoherent justifications, not based in science and facts," Pushaw said.

A spokesman for the Florida Department of Education said, "We are immensely disappointed that the ruling issued today by the Second Judicial Circuit discards the rule of law. This decision conflicts with basic and established rights of parents to make private health care and education decisions for children. ... We are committed to the fundamental rights of parents and will push forward on appeal to ensure that this foundation of democracy is upheld."

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

Aug 27, 2021, 9:20 AM EDT

Kentucky sees 3rd-highest day of cases

As Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the state's third-highest day of COVID-19 cases, he said at a news conference Thursday, "I’m gonna admit up front today I’m a little emotional and a little raw."

"Seeing nearly 5,000 cases and 65 Kentuckians that we lost in just one day’s report is tough," the governor said, adding that "it is entirely preventable."

Visitors receive COVID-19 vaccines at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 21, 2021.
Amira Karaoud/Reuters

Hospitalizations have increased every day in the last 42 days, he said.

On July 14, there were 60 people in intensive care units. As of Wednesday there were 549, he said.

At the beginning of the summer Kentucky's positivity rate fell to 1.79%. It's now soared to 13.16%, he said.

Aug 27, 2021, 4:27 AM EDT

Houston sees 5-fold increase in COVID-19 vaccinations

COVID-19 vaccinations in Houston increased more than five-fold on Thursday as the city launched a new incentive program.

The Houston Health Department is now providing up to $150 in gift cards to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A total of 740 vaccine doses were administered at the health department's eligible sites on Thursday, the first day of the program, marking a 51% increase over Wednesday's total of 121 doses.

Of the total shots administered Thursday, 658 were first doses and 82 were second dose, according to a press release from the health department.

Aug 26, 2021, 10:29 PM EDT

SCOTUS suspends eviction moratorium

The U.S. Supreme Court suspended the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's nationwide eviction moratorium in an unsigned, 6-3 opinion Thursday night 

"It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of the COVID–19 Delta variant. But our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends," the court wrote. "It is up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here."

"If a federally imposed eviction moratorium is to continue, Congress must specifically authorize it," it continued. "The application to vacate stay presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is granted."

In this file photo taken on Aug. 21, 2020, renters and housing advocates attend a protest to cancel rent and avoid evictions in front of the court house amid the coronavirus pandemic in Los Angeles.
Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

Liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan dissented.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki lamented the Supreme Court's ruling, saying the CDC moratorium "saved lives by preventing the spread of the COVID-19 virus."

"As a result of this ruling, families will face the painful impact of evictions, and communities across the country will face greater risk of exposure to COVID-19," Psaki said in a statement, before reiterating President Joe Biden's call for states, localities, landlords and local courts to do what they can to prevent evictions.

The Biden administration has repeatedly called on Congress to act in regard to the eviction moratorium, but Republicans have opposed the proposals.

The CDC had issued a 60-day extension to the moratorium the first week in August after the previous one expired July 31.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

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