![Ron DeSantis has jumped on Covid restrictions in a bid to revive his presidential campaign](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/09/07/TELEMMGLPICT000347484700_16941154980990_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf-0Jyi0jPPD6Zx1hiwTPhlc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Ron DeSantis orders Florida schools to defy ‘insane’ mask mandate
State's governor says schools will not cancel classes or impose Covid restrictions despite an uptick in infections
![Ron DeSantis has jumped on Covid restrictions in a bid to revive his presidential campaign](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/world-news/2023/09/07/TELEMMGLPICT000347484700_16941154980990_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqpVlberWd9EgFPZtcLiMQf-0Jyi0jPPD6Zx1hiwTPhlc.jpeg?imwidth=680)
Ron DeSantis has railed against the federal government’s reintroduction of temporary mask mandates in schools grappling with Covid outbreaks, calling the moves “insane”.
The Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate said no schools in his state will be cancelling classes or bringing back compulsory mask-wearing because of the recent uptick in infections.
Speaking during a press conference in Jacksonville on Thursday, Mr DeSantis said: “People are lurching toward this insanity again.”
“As we see these things being orchestrated... there needs to be pushback,” he added.
Mr DeSantis, 44, was quick to jump on the divisive issue to revive his ailing 2024 campaign, sending several emails to supporters calling for donations to help “fight back against every bogus attempt the Left makes to expand government control”.
Another email sent on Thursday read: “Mask mandates are being imposed on free Americans in liberal-run cities across the country… Stand with me now before common sense once again becomes an uncommon virtue”.
Donald Trump’s campaign was quick to hit back, putting out a lengthy email detailing Mr DeSantis’s response to the pandemic and claiming he “continues to lie about his record, as he personally oversaw mass vaccinations and imposed radical lockdowns”.
The jostling came as schools in several states cancelled classes or reintroduced mask mandates in response to rising Covid cases.
School districts in Kentucky and Texas axed teaching after outbreaks of the virus led to widespread absences.
Meanwhile, schools in Maryland and Alabama reintroduced mask mandates for pupils for several days after a number of people tested positive for the virus.
Covid hospitalisations in the US almost tripled from about 6,000 per week at the beginning of the summer to more than 17,000 in the week ending 26 August, according to federal data. But the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said hospitalisations across 96 per cent of the country were low.
Nikki Haley, who is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said on Wednesday that mask-wearing is an attack on parental rights.
Meanwhile, a group of Senate Republicans this week tried to push for legislation to prohibit federal mask mandates on domestic air travel, public transport and public schools until the end of 2024.
Speaking alongside Mr De Santis on Thursday, Joseph Lapado, Florida’s state surgeon general, also warned against getting the latest Covid vaccine, which is expected to be available this month.
He said there were no arguments for getting the latest jab, adding: “There are a lot of red flags.”
Mr Ladapo’s previous warnings against Covid vaccines provoked a public letter from federal health agencies, who warned his claims were harmful to the public.