Trash the mask? Not so fast. Mandates ending, but here’s where you must mask up in Florida
UPDATE: The Justice Department filed an appeal Wednesday in Tampa’s federal court to overturn Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle’s Monday order that voided the federal mask mandate on planes, trains, buses and other public transportation hubs, the Associated Press reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention asked the Justice Department to appeal the decision. It remained unclear Thursday whether the Biden administration would ask the appeals court to grant an emergency stay to immediately reimpose the mask mandate on public transit.
Now that mask mandates have been dropped for public transportation in most locales, after a Florida federal judge’s ruling, we wondered if you could do the same at other venues.
Many places relaxed their COVID-19 protocols after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidelines in February.
Miami-Dade and Broward public schools let students and teachers stop wearing masks if they wanted. Same at courthouses and local government buildings. Most malls, stores and pharmacies eliminated mask mandates, too. The major sports venues like Sunrise’s FLA Live Arena and Miami’s FTX Arena and Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium all still strongly recommend wearing masks but don’t require them.
That’s why fans of the Eagles, Elton John and Bon Jovi were almost all unmasked at recent major South Florida concerts at those venues or at the Seminole Hard Rock Live.
READ MORE: Planes, transit mask policies are changing. What to know if traveling to or from Miami
So what’s new with mask mandates? Mask on or mask off?
Here’s what we learned. Note, as with seasons in other climes, these things change. We’ll update as needed.
Performing arts venues
At the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami-Dade and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale masks have been “welcome and encouraged” since March but not required for every performance. Ditto the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center and West Palm Beach’s Kravis Center. Masking and proof of a negative COVID test or the voluntary showing of proof of a vaccination card may still be required if the touring artist or show presenter still wants that policy enforced. Some do.
The exceptions are listed on the venue’s websites.
Visit the Health and Safety pages at Arsht Center and at Broward Center before you buy tickets or attend.
For example, masks are required for Broadway’s touring “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Arsht on May 31 to June 5 and the May and June performances of the Carnival Studio Theater’s presentation of “Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,” and June and July’s Summer Shorts.
At the Broward Center, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” in June and RuPaul’s Drag Race in July are requiring masks. In addition, jazz singer-pianist Diana Krall requires a negative COVID test result within 72 hours of her April 26 performance (or you can opt to show your vaccine card showing that you’re fully vaccinated.)
Regional theaters
To mask or not to mask varies by venue — though all “strongly recommend” that patrons continue to wear masks even if they’ve stopped enforcing mandates.
Actors’ unions previously required that audiences must be masked or show a recent negative COVID test. Though performers still have to be in a “COVID bubble,” that ruling has been relaxed for the patrons. So though you won’t be able to shake Elton John’s hand from the lip of the stage when he plays his farewell Miami gig April 28 at downtown’s FTX, you can show him how much you love “I’m Still Standing” with a big grin should you choose.
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, for instance, will no longer require its guests to show proof of a recent negative test or to wear masks at upcoming performances of its next mainstage presentation of “Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express” that opens on May 18 or the 12th annual Young Talent Big Dreams Finals on May 14. Policing the policy was tough on the staff of the recent run of “On Your Feet!” that had played to packed houses (some of whom were mask scofflaws).
But the smaller GableStage space at The Biltmore Hotel is going to keep its mask policy intact due to its intimate nature, including the April 23-May 22 run of “Boca.”
On April 22, Seraphic Fire announced that for its final program of the 2021-22 season, Handel’s “Messiah” April 28-May 1, the classical music company will no longer require a negative COVID-19 PCR test or proof of vaccination from patrons entering its four concert venues. Masks are no longer required, either. But Seraphic Fire still encourages mask wearing inside its venues that are in Coral Gables, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton and Naples.
Theme parks
Walt Disney World Resort in Central Florida made masks optional for its theme park visitors and that means inside the Magic Castle as well as outside on the grounds. The shedding of a mask mandate includes its buses and monorails. Disney World also just brought back its traditional character meet-and-greets to its theme parks and resort hotels.
READ MORE: Do you still have to wear a mask on Disney transit? There’s a change on buses, monorail
Businesses
Most are mandate-free, especially after Florida’s Health Department diverted from the CDC in February and stated that businesses “are advised to no longer require employees to wear a mask.”
But that doesn’t mean private “mom and pop” businesses have to let you do business with them if they are still requiring that customers mask up when entering their store.
“It’s a private establishment. So, you have the right to control who is in it or not. If someone in there is unruly, you can ask them to leave. If someone is not wearing a mask and you imposed a mask requirement for your business, you can ask them to leave,” St. Petersburg attorney Charles Gallagher told WTSP.
.jpeg "IMG_2911 (1).jpeg")
Supermarkets like Winn-Dixie, Whole Foods and Milam’s, among them, had also let go of the mask mandates awhile back. In March, Publix even ditched its clear plastic partitions at all of its countertops. That said, we still have to twist our arms around and under the plastic partition at Walgreens to pay for goods with the Apple Watch on our wrists.
Hospitals, medical facilities
Hospitals, nursing facilities, doctor offices and assisted living facilities were the first to mask up and will be the last to mask down. Health establishments treat the vulnerable, like the elderly or immune compromised, and staffers are at great risk through the sheer number of people they treat daily. So although visitation rules have been relaxed at most South Florida hospitals and clinics, don’t forget to wear your mask.
This is not a ban
Note, Monday’s court ruling regarding masks on public transport did not ban people from wearing face coverings. If you are compromised or prefer to keep your mask on wherever you are, do so. COVID vaccines and boosters are still available for many, too.
This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 4:59 PM.
