Florida Officials Say They'll Fight Travel Restrictions: Report

Bradenton FL

12 February, 2021

12:36 PM

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FLORIDA — Reports indicate that President Joe Biden's administration is considering domestic travel restrictions, including Florida, to curb the spread of a mutated coronavirus variant, according to the Miami Herald. The consideration of such restrictions comes at a time when the Sunshine State leads the nation in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus variant that originated in the United Kingdom. The state has more than 300 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant. Gov. Ron DeSantis has already indicated he would fight any travel restrictions affecting Florida tourism. He called such restrictions "unconstitutional" and "unwise" during a Thursday news conference in Port Charlotte, the Tampa Bay Times reported. "Any attempt to restrict or lock down Florida by the federal government would be an attack on our state done purely for political purposes," DeSantis said. Sen. Marco Rubio also slammed potential travel restrictions, calling Biden and his administration "hypocritical," Fox News reported. "The day after Donald Trump issued a travel ban on China, Joe Biden said this is no time for xenophobia and that sort of thing," Rubio told "Fox & Friends." The senator added, "And then a month later, he actually tweeted out that banning travel from anywhere did not work." Rubio also took to Twitter to skewer Biden's talk of travel restrictions. Day after Trump issued a #Covid travel ban on #China Joe Biden accused him of "hysteria, xenophobia, and fear mongering" The following month he said banning travel from any part of the world will not stop coronavirus. But now he is considering restrictions on #Florida travel pic.twitter.com/MuCulpT6Hz— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 11, 2021 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement saying that it's "reviewing options" to control the spread of coronavirus and its variants, NBC 6 reported. "As part of our close monitoring of the pandemic and in particular the emerging variants, we will continue to review public health options for containing and mitigating spread of the virus," the CDC statement read. "CDC will also continue to work across government on recommendations for the travel space, and no decisions have been made." A White House spokesperson also told NBC 6, "To be clear, there have been no decisions made around additional public health measures for domestic travel safety. The administration is continuing to discuss recommendations across the travel space." The CDC currently requires those traveling to the United States by plane, including U.S. citizens, to have a negative COVID-19 test before they board a flight. Masks are also now required on planes, buses, trains and other forms of public transportation. Additionally, the CDC recommends that people avoid traveling now while the number of coronavirus cases in the country remains high.