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2 of 4 YE Florida 2020 in Review 3 of 4 Ron DeSantis 4 of 4 Gulf Coast Jam.jpg
Gov. Ron DeSantis at Gulf Coast Jam in Panama City on Sunday, June 6.
After more than a year of keywords, including masks, quarantines, and social distancing, it seems as if it’s the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
“I would absolutely say the data is real, the trends are positive and we’re in a much, much better place right now than we were in March of 2020,” said Mark Faulkner, president and CEO of Baptist Health Care.
Baptist Hospital’s main campus saw the fourth positive COVID case in the state before cases started to surge last year.
Credit Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center
Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday morning to remove the mask mandate at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center on Okaloosa Island starting May 15.
Safety practices such as social distancing and limiting capacity to 75% will remain in effect.
The non-agenda item was brought to the board Tuesday morning by Chairwoman Carolyn Ketchel, a strong proponent for masks last summer as the county and the state were experiencing a surge of COVID cases.
At the meeting, Ketchel said it should be up to individuals whether to mask up.
“At this point, we have so many people vaccinated, or those who have the opportunity to vaccinate, and think it’s really a personal choice whether we wear a mask or not at this point,” she said.
Notes from Public Safety & FL DOH. Of the 2 reported deaths, 1 occurred in late November & 1 in very early December. pic.twitter.com/N6eSwK6Qwx
As one of the two new faces on the board, Mixon said commissioners took appropriate steps to mitigate the spread of the virus without heading into the “dangerous territory to our freedoms as Americans.”
“At some point, people must use individual responsibility to help prevent the spread and this includes business owners enforcing their own policies with employees and patrons,” he said.
Mixon said he’s had a personal connection to the virus as people he loves have survived it, some have even died. But he says he’s not living in fear and instead leans on his faith.