Governor DeSantis bans mask mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions

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(WCJB) - Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates, school closures or other COVID-19 restrictions across the state.

This comes after the CDC updated their mask guidance to recommend that everyone, vaccinated or not, wear a mask indoors and strongly encourage all K-12 staff and students to wear masks in schools.

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The governor says these continued restrictions are inconsistent and not effective.

“There’s no end in sight to what these policies will do. We were told the off-ramp was vaccination. Now we’re told that’s not going to be the case, and you’re going to have to do masking or you’re going to have to do restrictions.”

Numerous school districts across the state were considering masking options, with some districts already approving a mask requirement for K-12 schools.

So far, no North Central Florida school district has made masks mandatory.

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