As of Monday afternoon, Lakeland residents were free to decide to mask up or not.
Lakeland commissioners allowed the city’s requirement that facial coverings be worn in indoor public spaces to expire at 5 p.m. Monday.
Mayor Bill Mutz said, “Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made the local mandate a moot point when his Sept. 25 executive order banned local fines against individuals who refused to wear a face mask.”
“Without the ability to enforce a mandate, there is no reason to mandate,” Mutz said.
Since July 2, Lakeland residents who refused to comply with the mask mandate could have been fined up to $250. However, no citations or fines were ever issued by the city.
Mutz read a letter from Lakeland’s health care providers encouraging residents to continue wearing a mask as a “front line of defense” against COVID-19.
Dr. Steven Achinger, managing partner of Watson Clinic, and Danielle Drummond, president and CEO-elect of Lakeland Regional Health, provided a joint statement to the city. “Lakeland Regional Health and Watson Clinic remain steadfast in our commitment to protecting one another by wearing a face mask in public places where social distancing cannot occur,” read their letter. “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and we don’t want to reverse the strides we’ve made.”
Businesses may continue to set and enact those safety measures they feel necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among staff and customers. It will be self-policed.
Mayor Mutz said all city-owned facilities, such as the RP Funding Center, will continue to require masks to be worn by all those who enter, in accordance with guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But city-owned facilities this was NOT voted on by the commissioners so we do not know how they will enforce it.