Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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Florida governor Ron DeSantis on Monday lifted all Covid-19 restrictions in the US state, effective immediately, citing the effectiveness and availability of vaccines.

DeSantis signed a law invalidating local emergency orders -- which impose restrictions due to Covid-19 -- effective July 1, and then signed an executive order that bridges the gap between now and then.

"That's the evidence thing to do," the Republican governor said at a news conference in St Petersburg, referring to the reduction in infections and deaths as the vaccine rollout continues.

Nearly nine million people -- out of a total of 23 million residents -- have had at least one dose of the vaccine in Florida, according to the US health department.

"At this point, the people that haven't been vaccinated is certainly not because a lack of supply or a lack of availability," he added.

The vaccine was made available last Friday for everyone over the age of 16 without the need for proof of state residency, a document that had been required since January to cope with the initial high demand.

This enabled vaccinations for undocumented migrants, who had difficulty proving their residency, and, tacitly, so-called vaccine tourism.

DeSantis criticized the strict security measures that remain in place in other states.

He said that those who still say they need to police residents are therefore saying they "don't believe in the vaccines."

Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available, in many cases without appointment, at federal, state and county centers; in addition to numerous pharmacies and supermarkets.

DeSantis added that neither the state nor county and municipal governments can close businesses for failing to comply with pandemic measures.
https://www.rawstory.com/florida-govern ... trictions/

Well, we can expect to see a super surge in cases. Had the numbers been reversed I could see doing this. But with just barely one third of the population vaccinated that's not good especially considering that a large percentage are those refusing to get the vaccine and now don't have t follow any guidelines to protect others from the spread.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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I'm good with that...especially in Florida.

We've hit a wall on vaccinations and we're never going to get anywhere near 75%. We have made the vaccine free and available to anyone who wants it. Nothing is going to change between now and whenever... Now its Darwin's turn.

We're not going to get ANY further in vaccinations, so let's just allow the disease to have its way with people. Clearly they need more of their loved ones dead before they learn.

Responsible people have done their part, the Government has done its part... What else are we waiting for?
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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More and more in Florida, DeSantis governs from an autocrat’s playbook

He doesn’t want you to vote, doesn’t want you to protest and doesn’t even want you to disagree with him. I’m not describing the leader of a communist country, I’m talking about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Since taking office, he’s made his motives clear, becoming more authoritarian by the day. Using his office’s power, the governor has eroded the liberty and rights of his constituents and businesses in the Sunshine State, rewarded his wealthy donors and undermined the media.

DeSantis has taken every opportunity to suppress voting rights. From his efforts to stop Amendment 4’s implementation, to his opposition to major changes to clemency rules — the governor’s actions have blocked hundreds of thousands of Floridians from regaining their right to vote.

Under the guise of fighting election fraud, (Florida’s only election fraud in 2020 came from Republican operatives) DeSantis prioritized legislation adding hurdles to vote-by-mail and originally sought to ban ballot drop boxes. This comes after a record number of Floridians voted by mail in 2020, and more Democrats than Republicans voted that way.

From Nicolás Maduro’s actions to undermine Venezuela’s electoral process and suppress votes, to Daniel Ortega’s moves to intimidate and confuse voters in Nicaragua, tactics to limit voting has been widespread in South American regimes. Voter suppression is a slippery slope that ends only with injustice.

DeSantis is also working to silence dissenting voices. His top legislative priority, House Bill 1, clamps down on freedom of speech and criminalizes protests — a clear infringement on our First Amendment rights, guaranteed by the Constitution. Under the new law, even if you’re peacefully protesting, if others became violent, you could be jailed alongside them. This move to silence, intimidate and imprison opposing voices bears a chilling resemblance to Fidel Castro’s actions to jail critics of his regime.

Businesses aren’t free from the governor’s attacks, either. Many companies, especially those that rely on large group events, want to protect customers by requiring COVID-19 vaccines. But the governor issued an executive order banning the practice and urged the Legislature to outlaw it. At the same time, he’s used his authority to provide his political donors with exclusive access to COVID-19 vaccines while frontline workers and teachers waited in line. And he’s done this while adding more than $14 million to his reelection fund since January.

As the lone Democratic statewide official, I’m the only voice on the cabinet in opposition to DeSantis’ actions. But instead of a debate on the facts, he’s responded with attempts to increase his power and limit the authority of my office. Media criticism isn’t welcome, either. Almost systematically, DeSantis attacks their coverage, ignores their questions, and refuses to release data and information which should be publicly available.

We’ve seen the same actions to consolidate power and silence media in countries like Cuba and Nicaragua, where Castro oversaw a rewrite of the constitution and Maduro has consistently silenced and undermined the independent press.

And while the governor condemns the leaders of these countries, his actions speak louder than his words. DeSantis has been pulling from the authoritarian playbook — suppressing votes and opponents, attacking the media and clamping down on constitutional rights.

Under DeSantis’ “regime,” if you don’t support him or his party, he wants to stop you from voting. If you disagree with him, he’ll use his authority to silence you. And if you dare protest and speak out, be prepared to end up behind bars.
https://www.miamiherald.com/article251128974.html

Gov. DeSatan is the Republican model of the future.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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Abbott will follow suit and then when the COVID cases go sky high again we will hear the Rightwing blaming Biden and the Liberals for the spike, because they will follow TFG and his playbook it is never my fault, because it is your fault.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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TrueTexan wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 11:13 am Abbott will follow suit and then when the COVID cases go sky high again we will hear the Rightwing blaming Biden and the Liberals for the spike, because they will follow TFG and his playbook it is never my fault, because it is your fault.
Since you're not going to get vaccinations anywhere near heard immunity levels; what do you propose?
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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It’s not like mandatory vaccination is unusual or illegal in US history. Think smallpox and a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1905 called Jacobson v. Massachusetts.
Jacobson was a resident of Cambridge who, for a number of reasons, objected to the vaccination mandate and brought a lawsuit against Massachusetts for the mandate. He raised a number of arguments, including one that his constitutionally protected liberty interests were being infringed by this mandate.

In that case, the Supreme Court said that states have under their police powers, which is under the Constitution, the authority to enact reasonable regulations as necessary to protect public health, public safety, and the common good. Vaccination mandates constitute exactly that kind of permissible state action to protect the public’s health. Even though it’s 115 years old, this continues to be the benchmark case on the state’s power to mandate vaccination.

In response to the argument about this individual liberty interest, the court said that sometimes individual interests might have to yield to state laws that endeavour to protect the health of everybody—the “common good.” The court said: “The rights of the individual may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint to be enforced by reasonable regulations as the safety of the general public may demand.”
https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles ... cides.html

Although not entirely with the same teeth as mandatory vaccinations, the reverse -lockdowns and forced closure of businesses and social gatherings- is also considered police powers for the safety of the public during a pandemic. So one way or another the individual is forced to consider their individual part in the big picture when it comes to deadly communicable diseases.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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Well that's neat an all, but I don't think it really helps us in this day and age. With a stacked SCOTUS, there is no way any mandating of ANYTHING coming from the left is going to stand. So the alternative we're left with is; get on with life. So let's get on with it...Let Darwin have his way with the right wing nutjobs. If they want to thin their own heard, fine.
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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featureless wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 5:51 pm Yeah, I don't think government should be able to dictate vaccines because it does directly impact one's healthcare. Now, I do support making the choice painful from an access to events, schools, travel, etc perspective.
Within the law, I'm 100% cool with that. I'd start with schools, because there's so much precedence that's defendable.
“I think there’s a right-wing conspiracy to promote the idea of a left-wing conspiracy”

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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I don't see Biden or any state governors mandating COVID vaccinations at this time for the general population. The government could require them for all military and some government employees such as federal LEOs, US Public Health Service, state and local health staff, hospitals... I can see employers requiring it once vaccines are officially approved by the FDA and not just offered under EUA.

I agree with access to events, boarding planes, cruise ships... foreign countries are already enforcing immunization requirements, Iceland was the first. Even though "vaccine passport" is a bad name, we need to have something maybe electronic to verify COVID immunization.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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Disney rejects DeSantis mask order for Florida's theme parks

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) may have signed new legislation ending all COVID-related government mandates, restrictions and mask requirements but Disney is making it clear that their parks will not be following in the governor's footsteps.

According to Newsweek, Disney World has added a pop-up alert on its My Disney Experience mobile app that acknowledges DeSantis' latest order. However, the entertainment resort complex made it clear they will continue to enforce their current COVID guidelines, which also includes requirements for face-coverings.

"We are aware of the state of Florida's plans announced today to modify COVID-19 guidelines. We will evaluate this latest guidance and maintain our current health and safety measures at this time, including face-covering requirements."

On Monday, May 3, Jason Cochran, author of the Frommer's travel guide for Disney, took to Twitter with a screenshot of Disney's message and a post that included his interpretation of Disney's message. "Translation: 'Sit down, Ron DeSantis. We'll decide what's good for our business, not you.' We know who has the real power in Florida."


Disney's announcement came just one day after the Republican governor's press conference on Monday where he announced the suspension of all COVID-related safety measures and guidelines. "In terms of what a supermarket or some of them choose to do, a Disney theme park, this [the latest legislation] does not deal with that one way or another," DeSantis said.

He added, "It's simply emergency orders and emergency penalties on individual businesses."

While the state of Florida did not have a statewide mask mandate, there have been local mandates in some select parts of the state including Orange County where Disney World theme parks are located in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.

Disney's website has current guidance that reads: "Acceptable face coverings must be worn over your nose and mouth at all times, except in designated areas. If you're unable to do this, please consider rescheduling your Walt Disney World Resort visit to a later time."

Disney World also indicated that it would continue to evaluate guidance and adjust measures accordingly as more Americans are vaccinated.
https://www.rawstory.com/disney-reject ... eme-parks/
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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FrontSight wrote: Mon May 03, 2021 4:06 pm I'm good with that...especially in Florida.

We've hit a wall on vaccinations and we're never going to get anywhere near 75%. We have made the vaccine free and available to anyone who wants it. Nothing is going to change between now and whenever... Now its Darwin's turn.

We're not going to get ANY further in vaccinations, so let's just allow the disease to have its way with people. Clearly they need more of their loved ones dead before they learn.

Responsible people have done their part, the Government has done its part... What else are we waiting for?
Agree..can't fix stupid. I have a brother in law and his wife who are neck deep in 'democrat conspiracy' BS and will NOT buckle under to the 'man'. Too bad wife's family are awash with older members with lots of risk factors..hope they enjoy going to their funerals. I won't be going to stupid Bro-in-law's funeral..

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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Good for Disney, corporations are pragmatic. The price to get into their theme parks is steep, not like going to a movie theatre. A few years back there was an outbreak of measles at Disneyland, that wasn't good PR for the corporation. I assume they get a lot of international tourists who expect enhanced safety requirements.
Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) and Cast Members, including those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming. You may temporarily remove your face covering while actively eating, drinking or taking an outdoor photo, but you must be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing during this time.

All face coverings (whether disposable or reusable) must:
Be made with at least 2 layers of breathable material
Fully cover the nose and mouth and secure under the chin
Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
Be secured with ties or ear loops and allow the Guest to remain hands-free

At this time, based on guidance from health authorities, neck gaiters, open-chin triangle bandanas and face coverings containing valves, mesh material or holes of any kind are not acceptable face coverings.

Costume masks are also not considered appropriate and are prohibited from being worn, in alignment with our existing rules.

Face coverings may have an integrated transparent plastic panel to aid in viewing the wearer’s mouth. These face coverings must:

Be a fabric face covering featuring a solid plastic panel containing no openings that is attached to the fabric on all sides using tight knit stitching
Meet all face covering requirements listed above
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/exper ... eCoverings
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: Florida governor lifts all COVID restrictions

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highdesert wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 11:43 am Good for Disney, corporations are pragmatic. The price to get into their theme parks is steep, not like going to a movie theatre. A few years back there was an outbreak of measles at Disneyland, that wasn't good PR for the corporation. I assume they get a lot of international tourists who expect enhanced safety requirements.
Face coverings are required for all Guests (ages 2 and up) and Cast Members, including those who have received a COVID-19 vaccine. Please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming. You may temporarily remove your face covering while actively eating, drinking or taking an outdoor photo, but you must be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing during this time.

All face coverings (whether disposable or reusable) must:
Be made with at least 2 layers of breathable material
Fully cover the nose and mouth and secure under the chin
Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
Be secured with ties or ear loops and allow the Guest to remain hands-free

At this time, based on guidance from health authorities, neck gaiters, open-chin triangle bandanas and face coverings containing valves, mesh material or holes of any kind are not acceptable face coverings.

Costume masks are also not considered appropriate and are prohibited from being worn, in alignment with our existing rules.

Face coverings may have an integrated transparent plastic panel to aid in viewing the wearer’s mouth. These face coverings must:

Be a fabric face covering featuring a solid plastic panel containing no openings that is attached to the fabric on all sides using tight knit stitching
Meet all face covering requirements listed above
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/exper ... eCoverings
Just waiting for the other Theme parks to follow Disney.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

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