Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said mask mandates won’t work unless they are strictly enforced.
Suarez made his comments Monday in a column he wrote with Vin Gupta, an assistant professor at the University of Washington Medical Center, for The Washington Post.
“We are at war with a silent and ruthless enemy, and mask mandates are among our best weapons to win the fight,” they said. “But they have to have teeth to work.
“Facing a global pandemic with flu season on the near horizon, our nation’s governors and mayors must quickly align common sense with the common good. That means balancing personal liberty with the clear and present public health danger presented by the spread of COVID-19. We can no longer afford to be confused by false choices and false information.”
Suarez, a Republican, and Gupta added that “warnings to anyone not wearing a mask need to be backed up with the threat of fines and, for chronic offenders, even arrest.”
They noted residents of Florida’s Miami-Dade County risk penalties if they are caught out in public without a mask.
“Offenders will be warned but, if they refuse to comply, they will be fined,” they said. “The first offense will cost $100 and the second another $100. With a third — God forbid — the offender will be arrested.”
They acknowledged that critics will claim the policy is “government overreach at its worst.”
“Mask orders require continuous education and universal enforcement to be successful, and it is incomplete and incoherent mask orders that have had mixed or limited outcomes,” they said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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