Palm Beach County updated its mask mandate Friday to reflect updated federal guidelines saying fully vaccinated people need not wear masks outdoors except in crowds.
The order now exempts vaccinated people from having to wear a mask when outdoors except in certain crowded settings and venues where there is a decreased ability to
maintain physical distance.
The county s move came a day after Florida dropped measures criticized for hindering undocumented people s ability to get coronavirus vaccinations.
Vaccine-seekers no longer have to prove they live in Florida to get shots after State Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees on Thursday eliminated that requirement, which he imposed Jan. 21 at Gov. Ron DeSantis behest.
Florida’s agriculture commissioner asked the governor to open COVID-19 vaccinations to all farmworkers, noting they are “critical to producing safe, secure” food while being exposed to higher health risks during the pandemic.
“These frontline workers are critical to producing the safe, secure domestic food supply on which we rely,” wrote Commissioner Nikki Fried in a Wednesday letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Yet according to studies, farmworkers face one of the highest increased risks of death from COVID-19 with Hispanic farmworkers facing a 59% higher risk.”
She also wants priority for others in the agricultural and food production industries.
A University of California, San Francisco study that has not yet been peer-reviewed found food and agriculture workers are at the highest risk of mortality during the pandemic with Latino food and agriculture workers facing a 59% increase.
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On a farm in Plant City, Florida, María Alvarez and her husband have been working throughout the pandemic, picking what’s in season and planting for the next.
Alvarez, 34, is worried about getting infected with Covid-19 while she works with dozens of other migrant workers during shifts that last up to 12 hours.
“When we arrive to pick up the boxes, we’re very close to each other, she said. Then we head back to go picking and we’re still close. There’s no social distancing.