Florida Governor Declares COVID19 Emergency Over, Bans COVID Passports

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared COVID19 emergency over. He then signed on Monday an executive order that would invalidate local COVID19 emergency orders. However, on top of that, he also signed a bill into law that bans COVID19 passports. This will prevent businesses, schools, and other organizations in Florida from asking for proof of COVID19 vaccination.

Governor DeSantis said that “I think it’s the evidence-based thing to do”. He then said that those who urge the policing of vaccination status “don’t believe in the data”. He added, “We are no longer in the state of emergency”.

The provision to ban vaccine passports is found in SB 2006, which is a bill designed to address future public health emergencies. This law will take effect by July 1.

What’s Next for the Cruise Lines

Cruise lines are optimistic that they can sail again. For the past months, DeSantis has become one of their biggest allies as some cruise lines used Florida as their homeport. However, recent developments make things complicated. Though CDC now allows cruises to sail if they can have 95% vaccination rates for both passengers and crew, Florida’s new law can stop cruise lines from checking COVID19 vaccination status.

Travel industry analyst and managing director of Truist Securities, Patrick Scholes thinks that this is the last thing the industry needs. He said that “It has been a year of migraines and kicks in the teeth for the cruise industry”. Scholes added that “Now, they’re finally getting ready to restart and you have the governor of Florida basically playing a game of chicken with them”.

This could get tricky since the law may have a conflict with federal rules. However, cruises will have two options at this point. They can either require vaccinations or run a simulated voyage. Scholes thinks that “It might even be cheaper for them to just eat the fines”. He added that “They are burning millions of dollars a day having their ships idle”.

Norwegian Cruise Lines CEO Frank Del Rio is also concerned about the law. He said that “God forbid we can’t operate in the state of Florida for whatever reason, then there are other states that we do operate from”. However, he is still hopeful to sail in Florida calling it a “very lucrative market”.