Florida surgeon general slams renewed mask mandates, urges people to refuse to participate

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo harshly criticized COVID-19 mask mandates and lockdowns, and urged people to consider "refusing to participate."

"What do you call re-imposing mask policies that have been proven ineffective or restarting lockdowns that are known to cause harm? You don't call it sanity," Dr. Ladapo posted last week on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "These terrible policies only work with your cooperation. How about refusing to participate…"

Some schools and companies are implementing mask mandates amid a rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, even though some peer-reviewed research has suggested that face coverings may cause more harm than good.

The most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that COVID-related hospitalizations hit more than 12,600 during the week ending Aug. 12, up 21.6% from the previous week, but it is still far below the high of more than 150,000 in January 2022.

Research scientist Dr. Robert Malone told Just the News last week that he is against implementing further COVID-19 mandates. 

"I personally believe that this is more fear porn. It's not justified," he said.

Florida dropped all COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic, in September 2020. The state legislature earlier this year considered legislation that would ban COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates.

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