Head Start, the federal program providing preschool and child care for low-income families, will require COVID-19 masks for children 2 and older this school year, which is inconsistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
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State Sen. Tina Polsky (D-FL-29) recently scheduled a meeting with Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, where the meeting quickly went south.
It was reported over the weekend that Polsky asked Ladapo and his two legislative aides to leave her office because Ladapo did not want to wear a mask during their conversation. Polsky cited her breast cancer diagnosis as the reasoning for her desire to have all parties masked.
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President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have been exchanging verbal punches at one another over each other’s handling of the COVID pandemic.
Biden criticized DeSantis on Tuesday for opposing mask mandates and for vaccine passports, specifically noting DeSantis’ fight with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over vaccine passports for the cruise industry.
Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees said fully vaccinated Floridians should go maskless despite the CDC’s recommendations regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rivkees rescinded previous public health advisories on Thursday through a three-page advisory saying state offices should return to in-person working environments and long-term mask-wearing can cause unintended consequences.
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Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the municipality is putting together a plan to relax its mask mandate by as early as June.
“We are working with the department of health on a plan to phase reducing requirements of wearing facial coverings and social distancing,” Demings said. “We are reviewing how CDC requirements are evolving along with COVID infection data and a plan will be announced soon.”