While Covid-19 is still actively circulating in the United States, a sheriff in Florida has warned his agents that they will not be allowed to wear a protective mask. Its use is even prohibited inside its police station, in order to "ensure clear communication and for the purpose of identification".

A sheriff in Florida has ordered his police officers not to wear masks and banned their use inside his police station, just as the state recorded a record of deaths from the coronavirus. Sheriff Billy Woods, of Marion County in central Florida, issued the ban in an email sent to his staff Tuesday, leaked by the local Ocala Star Banner newspaper. “When you are on duty / working as my employees, representing my office, you will not wear a mask,” he wrote.

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"A goal of identification"

The sheriff, however, specified a few exceptions, for agents working in prisons, schools, hospitals or with suspected cases of coronavirus. He also referred to the protests against police violence that rocked the country after the death of African American George Floyd under the knee of a white policeman. "In light of recent events and considering the resentment and / or hatred against the police in our country today", people entering the police station should, he wrote, not wear mask in order to "ensure clear communication and for identification purposes".

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Record of deaths Tuesday in Florida

Florida, where wearing a mask is not compulsory but recommended, is one of the epicenters of the American epidemic, which has experienced a strong resurgence from the end of June. The Sunshine State recorded a record 276 Covid-19-related deaths on Tuesday in one day, and 212 deaths were further deplored on Wednesday. A total of 8,765 people have died of the disease in the state, and more than 550,900 cases have been recorded there (for a population of 21 million inhabitants).