Ron DeSantis puts his foot down on mask mandates for kids: ‘We’re not doing that in Florida’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is continuing to make the Sunshine State one of the last bastions of sanity in a nation gone mad. On Thursday, the governor spoke out at a news conference at Indian River State College in Fort Pierce against calls to implement mask mandates for children.

“There’s been talk about potentially people advocating at the federal level imposing compulsory masks on kids. We’re not doing that in Florida, okay?” DeSantis said.

“We want kids to be able to be kids,” DeSantis added. “We need them to be able to breathe. It’s terribly uncomfortable for them to do it. There’s not very much science behind it.”

On Monday, DeSantis had also shot bringing back lockdowns over the Delta variant.

“If anyone is calling for lockdowns, you’re not getting that done in Florida,” DeSantis said. “I’m going to protect people’s livelihoods, I’m going to protect kids’ right to go to school. I’m going to protect people’s right to run their small businesses.”

“We’re going to lift people up, we’re not locking them down,” he added.

At the same time, DeSantis did laud the efficacy of vaccines in bringing down COVID-19 rates and limiting the severity of the illness.

“Here’s, I think, the most important thing with the data: if you are vaccinated, fully vaccinated, the chance of you getting seriously ill or dying from COVID is effectively zero,” DeSantis said. “If you look at the people who are being admitted to hospitals, over 95 percent of them are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all. These vaccines are saving lives. They are reducing mortality.”

“We have a summer season here, just like last year,” he added. “It started a little later this year. So you’re going to have higher prevalence for the rest of July, probably into August. And then it goes back and goes the different waves. If you’re vaccinated, those waves are not going to impact you in any significant way and I think that’s the important message for people.”

In mid-July, the CDC updated its ‘mask guidance.’ The update stipulates that schoolchildren should wear masks and continue to maintain 3-foot social distancing unless fully vaccinated.

“Mask use is recommended for people who are not fully vaccinated including students, teachers, and staff,” the CDC states. “Children under 2 years of age should not wear a mask.”

“In general, people do not need to wear masks when outdoors,” the CDC continued. “However, particularly in areas of substantial to high transmission, CDC recommends that people who are not fully vaccinated wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.”

“Based on the needs of the community, school administrators may opt to make mask use universally required (i.e., required regardless of vaccination status) in the school,” the CDC added.

It looks like Governor Ron DeSantis is going to take a hard pass on the CDC’s mask ‘guidance.’