Florida Gov. DeSantis Suspends Local COVID-19 Emergency Orders Effective Immediately

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday morning that he will be suspending all remaining local emergency orders related to the COVID-19 pandemic effective immediately.

DeSantis signed the SB-2006 during a news conference in St. Petersburg and said while COVID isn’t over, the need for emergency rules is. It will prohibit businesses, schools, and government agencies from requiring people to show documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccinations or post-infection recovery before gaining entry.

The executive order will take effect on July 1.

“The bill ensures that neither the state or local governments can close businesses or keep kids out of in-personal instruction unless they satisfy a demanding and continuous justification,” he said.

He also signed SB 1924 which restricts what governors and mayors can do during pandemics.

“We worked very hard, particularly since (last) summer, to jettison those types of policies and we focused on lifting people up,” DeSantis said.

“We wanted people going back to work. We wanted our kids to be in school — we thought that that was very important that parents have the ability to send their kids to school — and we wanted our economy to be healthy. We wanted our society to be healthy. We wanted people to be happy living in Florida.”