Billy Woods, the sheriff of central Marion County, Florida, banned masks for all deputies and visitors to the sheriff’s office early Tuesday, according to a new report from the Ocala Star Banner– a strange decision to make in the middle of a pandemic that is still wildly out of control.
Sheriff Woods has instructed staff not to wear masks while on duty and said all public visitors to the sheriff’s office, which currently employs about 900 people, should be told that masks are prohibited. Anyone who does not want to remove their mask is told to leave, according to a memo written by Woods and received by the Ocala Star Banner.
“Effectively, any individual who goes to one of our lobbies (which includes the headquarters and all district offices) that has a mask will be asked to remove it,” Woods wrote.
Masks are a vital public health tool to help slow the spread of coronavirus, according to the CDC, and the sheriff’s mask ban comes as Florida breaks a new record for daily covid-19 deaths. The Sunshine State registered 277 new deaths on Tuesday, with 13 of those dead in Marion County. The US as a whole reported 1,339 new deaths yesterday.
Woods cited anti-police sentiment as one reason for the new ban, and strongly suggested that anyone enter the sheriff’s office for uncomfortable purposes and be unidentifiable with a mask.
G / O Media can get a commission
Woods wrote, “in light of the current events regarding the sentiment and / or hatred against legislation in our country today, this is done to ensure clear communication and for identification purposes of every individual involved in a lobby is running. ”
Florida has seen a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases in recent months, with children being particularly hard hit. The number of Florida children under 17 who test positive for covid-19 has increased from 16,797 children on July 9 to 39,735 on August 9, according to a recent report by CNN. Overall, Florida has identified more than 543,000 cases and 8,552 deaths.
Masks were somewhat controversial in the American medical community in the early days of the pandemic, but health experts in Asia immediately recognized that face covering could play an important role in stopping the spread of the disease. It is now widely accepted in the US that masks are a public good and should be widely accepted to help contain covid-19, although Republicans tend to be the most skeptical of masks, according to various interviews. President Donald Trump has also been a mask skeptic, although he recently drew a 180 and called it “patriotic.”
Florida currently has a 17.3% activity rate, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker for coronavirus, a number indicating that the pandemic is still rolling out of control in the state. New York’s positivity rate is currently below 1%, which means that the virus is still present but not nearly as prevalent as places like Mississippi (20.5%) and Texas (20.4%).
Anti-mask sentiment in Florida appears to be high, relative to many other parts of the country. Recently, an anti-mask protest in central Florida made headlines for being a absurd view of stupidity. Ocala, the largest city in Marion County, passed a mandatory mask ordinance by its city council last week, but Mayor Kent Guinn on Monday vetoed the new order, according to local ABC TV affiliate WCJB.
Guinn notes that his constituencies do not want mascara regulations for local businesses, even one that simply states that businesses should make a “reasonable effort” to get customers to wear face masks.
‘Most people want me to fetus. Probably 99 plus percent, ”Guinn told WCJB last week.
Marion County went for Donald Trump in 2016, with 61.7% voting for the current president, and 35.5% voting for Hillary Clinton. So while it is unlikely that “99%” of Guinn’s constituencies will oppose masks, it is not hard to believe that a majority of conspiracy theories may believe that masks are a secret plot by the world lizard people to breathe your poison.
.
