Broward to again require masks in county facilities
Starting next week, visitors to Broward County buildings, including the libraries, must wear a facial mask to come inside.
Miami-Dade County started requiring masks in county buildings again this week.
“Given the surge in cases, masks are required in County buildings to protect residents, employees, and visitors, effective immediately — a commonsense measure that will reduce transmission especially around the holidays,” according to Miami-Dade county officials.
In Palm Beach County, “the advice is that masks are strongly encouraged” stays the same, said county spokeswoman Lisa De La Rionda.
Over the summer, the last time Broward County mandated that masks go into effect in county buildings, officials did acknowledge “we can’t really enforce it.”
Broward Mayor Michael Udine said it will be enforced this time. “We’re not looking to fine people, we’re looking for compliance,” he said. “They’ll ask people to put their masks on.” If they don’t: “They can be asked to leave.”
The point: “This is to protect our employees,” he said. Udine said the new policy applies to all county buildings including the courthouse and libraries.
At least one Broward city was in solidarity with the county. Starting Monday, Coral Springs will require facial coverings to be worn inside of all city facilities.
“The omicron variant is different from any other COVID variant, and while illness is reportedly less severe, it is highly contagious with rapid community spread,” city officials said Thursday. “One of our greatest priorities is to ensure our continuity of operations to best serve the residents and businesses of Coral Springs. The use of facial coverings is to protect our workforce so there is no interruption to vital city services.”
On Wednesday, as South Florida counties publicly grappled with how to deal with the new omicron strain of COVID-19 that spreads much faster than delta and is more able to evade vaccines, Udine said it was still only a recommendation for visitors to county buildings to wear masks, although employees were required to wear them.
On Thursday, officials changed their minds, citing the newest variant.
“The intent is to ensure the safety of our frontline workers as well as the public,” county officials said in a statement.
The new mask mandate will be in effect starting Monday when buildings re-open after the Christmas holiday.
Broward’s policy does not violate Gov. Ron DeSantis’ standing orders, said Monica Cepero, the county’s incoming administrator.
DeSantis has banned mask mandates in schools and banned many employers, local government and schools from requiring COVID-19 vaccines for their patrons or customers. Days after the Pfizer vaccine was approved for children, DeSantis tweeted: “In Florida, there will be no vaccine mandate for children in our schools.”