Topline A growing number of cities and counties across Texas and Florida—the two states at the epicenter of the U.S’.s current delta surge—are choosing to defy orders from their Republican governors and join the litany of other localities reinstating mask mandates as cases and hospitalizations skyrocket nationwide. MIAMI, FL – AUGUST 29: Governor Ron DeSantis gives a briefing regarding Hurricane Dorian to the … [+] media at National Hurricane Center on August 29, 2019 in Miami, Florida. Hurricane Dorian is expected to become a Category 4 as it approaches Florida in the upcoming days. (Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images) Getty Images Key Facts Houston became the latest to buck a statewide ban when Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, announced Monday that masks will be mandated for all city employees when they are unable to social distance. This appears to defy an order signed last week by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) prohibiting local governments from enacting their own mask mandates (and threatening a $1,000 penalty if they do), though Turner’s communications director Mary Benton argued the mayor has “a right and responsibility to ask city employees to wear face coverings indoors to help stop the virus from spreading.” In Florida, the city of Palm Beach and the counties housing Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando have all mandated masks inside government buildings in defiance of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has restricted local governments from imposing mask orders. After nixing the power of local government to punish those defying Covid-19 restrictions earlier in the pandemic, DeSantis signed a… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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Texas And Florida Cities Mandate Masks, Despite Statewide Bans
