Officials in Palm Beach County are investigating whether an event Friday featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis violated the county’s mask mandate.
DeSantis was at the Hilton Airport Hotel in West Palm Beach, giving an update on the COVID vaccine effort and praising his administration’s effort to a crowd of over 100 people - many of them seen without wearing masks.
Palm Beach County recently extended their facial covering mandate until March 19th, stating coverings must be worn by people "obtaining any good or service or otherwise visiting or working in any business or establishment, including entering, exiting, and otherwise moving around within the establishment."
A spokesman for the county said the event was not coordinated through them.
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“It is up to the Hilton to enforce mask mandates in their facilities,” John Jamason said in a statement to NBC affiliate WPTV-TV. “Complaints about businesses continue to come in to our compliance hotline and the county responds with education and enforcement when needed."
Jamason said it would be up to the county’s Code Enforcement and Compliance Team to determine if the hotel would be fined or penalized for the event.
Gov. DeSantis’ office said in a statement that an “executive order suspending the collection of fines and penalties associated with COVID-19 enforced upon individuals remains in place."
