Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis reacted quickly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding coronavirus masking.
On July 27, the CDC released its new COVID-19 guidance that included updated masking recommendations. The guidelines advise persons to “wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.” For persons at higher risk, the CDC said, “you might choose to wear a mask regardless of the level of transmission in your area.”
The White House also issued a statement from President Joe Biden saying, “I hope all Americans who live in the areas covered by the CDC guidelines will follow it.”
When asked by a reporter if he will require federal employees to get vaccinated, Biden said, “That’s under consideration right now, but if you’re not vaccinated, you’re not nearly as smart as I thought you were.”
Biden also stated, “By following the science, and by doing our part by getting vaccinated, America can beat COVID. In the meantime, more vaccinations and mask-wearing in the areas most impacted by the Delta variant will enable us to avoid the kind of lockdowns, shutdowns, school closures, and disruptions we faced in 2020.”
Gov. DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw told Fox News shortly after that, “It isn’t based in science. There is no indication that areas with mask mandates have performed any better than areas without mask mandates. This policy could backfire.”
DeSantis told attendees at a roundtable on July 26, “I think we fear that seeing some of those rumblings, that there be an attempt from the federal level or even some of these organizations to try to push for mandatory masking of school children. And so our view is that this should not be imposed. It should not be mandated.”
In a speech on July 28, DeSantis said of requiring children under 12 to wear masks in school, “It’s not healthy for these students to be sitting there all day, 6-year-old kids in kindergarten covered in masks.”
Pushaw also tweeted that, “We believe parents can make decisions about their child’s health and safety, which is why we think that parents can decide whether the kids should be wearing masks in school.”
