Florida's governor wants the traveling public to start traveling again. He wants the public to know that air travel is safe during the coronavirus pandemic and hopes tourists will soon return.
The judge says the order disregards safety and denies local school boards' decision-making power. The Florida Department of Education has appealed the ruling.
Tourism is one of Florida's biggest and most important industries. But visitors are shying away from the sun-splashed beaches and theme parks. Tourism numbers cratered in the last quarter.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods says that "effective immediately, any individual walking in to any one of our lobbies ... wearing a mask will be asked to remove it."
Gov. Ron DeSantis says the portal was designed to frustrate users, "so people just say, oh, the hell with it, I'm not going to do that." Florida has been among the slowest states to process claims.
The state keeps setting daily death toll records and is second behind only New York in total number of infections. The percentage of people testing positive in Florida has begun to decline, however.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, 423,855 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in Florida as of Sunday, compared to 411,736 in New York.
After months of denying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic, and with cases on the rise again and his poll numbers nosediving, Trump is doing an about-face on some key measures.
The coronavirus has gripped Florida with a surging caseload. Now the state has set a single-day record of deaths with 173. State officials are reminding people to wear masks and socially distance.
Florida's biggest teachers union, along with parents, have sued the state over its plans to reopen schools with in-person instruction next month. They're worried about a surge of coronavirus cases.
The NBA and Major League Soccer are getting underway in their 'protective' bubbles near Orlando. They get regular COVID-19 tests and quick results. But that's not the case for regular Floridians.
