Floridians won’t be letting COVID-19 get in the way of Thanksgiving.
While a number of governors around the country are implementing tight restrictions with the ostensible aim of curtailing the virus’ spread during the holiday season, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is siding with freedom — extending an order keeping businesses open and preventing residents from getting penalized for not wearing a mask.
DeSantis had originally signed an executive order back in September that prohibits local governments from punishing those who refuse to wear masks or follow other coronavirus restrictions. The order also prevents business closures (including restaurants) without health or economic justifications.
That order, extended by the governor this week, was made with an aim to “safeguard the economic vitality of the state.” It prohibits local governments from requiring restaurants to operate at less than 50 percent of their indoor capacity. In situations where they are operating at less than 100-percent indoor capacity, local officials must explain why these limitations are necessary for public health.
While local coronavirus restrictions on individuals appear to still be allowable, DeSantis suspended the collection of all fines and penalties associated with these restrictions.
“Whereas, the State of Florida has suffered economic harm as a result of COVID19-related closures, exacerbating the impacts of the State of Emergency, and Floridians should not be prohibited by local governments from working or operating a business,” DeSantis’ order reads.
By contrast, Los Angeles is expected to go forward with a ban on in-person outdoor dining in time with the Thanksgiving holiday, a response to the media’s panic about surging COVID-19 cases. The state’s most populous county is supplementing that with yet another stay-at-home order, and most residents are subject to a 10 p.m. curfew.
In New York, meanwhile, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, placed new restrictions on restaurants, bars, and gyms, while the city closed up schools and in-person learning last week.
Both California and New York’s Democrat governors have warned residents against traveling or gathering in large groups for the holiday, claiming that doing so will lead to an uptick in coronavirus cases.
However, many of these prominent Democrats have done a poor job of practicing what they preach. For despite Democrats’ near-universal calls against a traditional Thanksgiving, many of these leaders have had no qualms about engaging in large social gatherings for causes near and dear to them.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser disregarded the social distancing she has forced upon her constituents when she traveled to Delaware to attend Biden’s “victory” speech. Curiously, Delaware is on a list of states deemed “high risk” that Bowser’s office released just last week.
The guidelines state that “anyone coming into Washington, DC from a high-risk state (within the prior 14 days) who was traveling for non-essential activities will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days from their arrival in the district.”
But the D.C. mayor defended her trip to the Biden speech as “essential travel.”
In Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a stay-at-home advisory set to last for 30 days beginning November 16. She flat-out told the city’s residents to “cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans” and “stop having guests over.”
Yet Lightfoot was also seen unmasked in a large crowd celebrating the projected win of Joe Biden.
This prompted cries of hypocrisy.
“People couldn’t be with their loved ones in their final moments on this earth, families couldn’t hold funerals and grieve together, churches were closed under threat of penalty, but Lori Lightfoot can flout all the rules and scream into a megaphone,” radio host Dana Loesch said.
“Democratic Hypocrisy — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot joins thousands in the streets to praise Joe Biden; 1-week later she issues an order telling people to stay home, stop having guests over, and cancel traditional Thanksgiving plans,” exclaimed Washington Examiner contributor Mark Vargas.
Americans must push back against the ludicrous lockdowns and must realize that if gatekeepers are telling you it’s not OK to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with your family but it is OK to attend race riots and Democrat Party rallies, then the COVID-19 restrictions were never really about public health.
