ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There is no statewide face mask mandate in Florida, as Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly said his administration is leaving those policies up to local governments.
In the last couple of months of the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of counties and cities around the state have implemented such orders requiring face coverings for indoor or outdoor public spaces -- or both.
But despite months of spikes in new coronavirus cases and local orders, Florida is considered one of the least cooperative states when it comes to wearing face masks, according to a recent study.
Last week, Survival At Home, a survival and preparedness website, did an analysis to determine which states are the most and least cooperative when it comes to wearing a mask. On the website's list of 10 states, Florida ranked third least cooperative for face masks.
Arizona ranked first with Nevada in the second spot.
According to USA Today, the study was conducted by compiling more than 150,000 geotagged Twitter posts that referenced hashtags like "#nomask," "#burnyourmask" and "#iwillnotcomply" over the last 30 days.
According to the study, these are the least cooperative states when it comes to wearing a mask:
- Arizona
- Nevada
- Florida
- Idaho
- Maine
- Missouri
- Wyoming
- South Carolina
- Ohio
- Montana
Over the last 30 days in Florida, the number of newly-confirmed cases in a single day went from around 3,000 to a record-shattering 15,300. There has yet to be a day in July where a single-day case number is fewer than 6,000.
For the last six days, new daily case reports have topped 10,000 each day.
According to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, Florida ranks No. 3 in the U.S. with the highest number of positive COVID-19 cases.
Health experts have urged people around the world to wear face coverings when outside the home for months. The World Health Organization said anyone who lives in an area where the virus is spreading should wear a face covering when social distancing isn't possible.
A study from mid-June found that widespread use of face masks in public combined with lockdowns could prevent future waves of COVID-19.
Just last week, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the coronavirus pandemic could be under control in eight weeks if everyone wears a mask.
Amid this guidance from experts, many virals stories and videos have popped up in the past month showing people lashing out at employees and others for being asked to wear a mask.
A passenger on a Spirit Airlines flight to Florida was removed for refusing to wear a mask. One man in Louisiana was accused of hitting an officer twice with his car after refusing to wear a mask at Walmart. A woman in Michigan reportedly drove over an officer's foot after getting upset about having to wear a mask.
Some anti-mask protesters have crafted special masks in protest. These masks offer no coronavirus protection and are made of mesh, yarn or lace.