Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Thursday announced new COVID-19 guidance for the state that discourages mask-wearing and promotes physicians prescribing off-label medications.
The announcement comes amid reports that the Biden administration is expected to significantly loosen federal mask-wearing guidelines.
The Florida Department of Health is advising businesses to stop requiring masks for workers. It also recommends that adults and children can shorten quarantines to five days.
The CDC has recommended the five-day quarantine for asymptomatic Americans who catch the coronavirus since late December.
The Florida guidelines also direct physicians to exercise their own judgment when treating COVID patients.
Meantime, two people familiar with the matter have told the Associated Press that the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon issue revised guidelines saying most Americans will no longer be advised to wear masks in indoor public settings.
The new CDC metrics will still consider caseloads, but also take into account hospitalizations and local hospital capacity.
Under the new guidelines, the vast majority of Americans will no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended based on current data.
DeSantis presented the Florida policies at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando during a partisan speech targeting the CDC and President Joe Biden.
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