(ABC News) A Florida sheriff has banned his employees and anyone visiting his offices from wearing a mask during the pandemic — a move that is sure to cause controversy as studies have shown masks reduce the risk of transmitting the novel coronavirus.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods wrote in an email on Aug. 11 to employees that some exceptions will be made, including at courthouses, jails, schools and hospitals. But “masks will not be worn” by on-duty employees at any other time, he said.
Woods went on in the email, which was obtained by ABC News, to say that any person who walks into “any one of our lobbies (which includes the main office and all district offices) that is wearing a mask will be asked to remove it.”