‘GROSS’: DeSantis’ office pounces against renewed calls for masking

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office denounced renewed calls for masking in response to a potential COVID-19 resurgence.

DeSantis press secretary Jeremy Redfern referenced a report from CNN encouraging those at “high risk of serious illness or death from Covid-19” to “dust off those N95 masks.”

For the post’s photo, CNN used a child wearing an N95 mask.

“They’re using a picture of a child in an N95. Gross,” Redfern said.

“Luckily, @GovRonDeSantis proposed and signed legislation that banned mask mandates in Florida,” he added.

“We aren’t going to play in the federal government’s biomedical security theater.”

CNN cited “a growing number of experts” in their encouraging of re-masking.

Overall, there were about four new hospital admissions for every 100,000 people nationwide in the week ending August 12, which is considered low, according to CDC thresholds. No counties had high levels of Covid-19 hospitalizations. But 85 counties — about 3% of the country — were in the medium threshold. About a quarter of those counties were in Florida.

CNN

DeSantis has made his opposition to COVID-19 lockdown policies of the past a central mark of his 2024 presidential campaign.

At the first GOP primary debate Wednesday, DeSantis gave fiery comments on Dr. Anthony Fauci and COVID-19 lockdowns.

“In Florida, we led the country out of lockdown, we kept our state free, and free and open, and I can tell you this, as your president, I will never let the deep state bureaucrats lock you down,” he said.

“You don’t take somebody like Fauci and coddle him!” he said. “You bring Fauci in, you sit him down, and you say ‘Anthony, you are fired!’”

The Biden administration is reportedly pumping money into developing new COVID-19 vaccines and will “renew” efforts to push boosters.