I don't like this new "authority" at all. DeSantis handed down this power and has declared a public health emergency which means; forced quarantine with charges of 2nd degree misdemeanor for violation,
forced vaccination, and order any individual to be examined and tested for communicable diseases that have a high mortality rate and present a severe danger to public health.
Florida coronavirus: State's secretary of health authorized to take ‘any action necessary’The coronavirus public health emergency declared late Sunday by Gov. Ron DeSantis gives broad powers to Scott Rivkees, the state’s secretary of health and surgeon general, to respond to the crisis.
Fifteen Floridians have been tested, with two people in the Tampa Bay area coming up “presumptively†positive for the COVID-19 virus, leading the governor to issue an executive order declaring a public health emergency.Rivkees is “authorized to use his judgment as to the duration of this public health emergency†and is “authorized to take any action necessary to protect the public health.â€
Scott Rivkees
The major part of that will be to follow U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines to control the spread of COVID-19 and educate the public on prevention measures. Any action taken by Rivkees, the state health officer, now is immediately enforceable by law enforcement.
That includes arresting anyone and charging them with a second-degree misdemeanor for violating any isolation or quarantine or any other rules or orders imposed under the public health emergency order...........
..............Under a public health emergency, Rivkees can order any individual to be examined and tested for communicable diseases that have a high mortality rate and present a severe danger to public health. Those who refuse can be quarantined or isolated.
If there is no practical method to isolate or quarantine the individual, Rivkees can use any means necessary to vaccinate or treat the individual.
According to Florida law, quarantine means the "separation of an individual reasonably believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease, but who is not yet ill, from individuals who have not been so exposed, to prevent the possible spread of the disease."
The order also gives Rivkees broad enforcement authority, including the power to apply for injunctions and issue warrants to make people comply with his orders, as outlined in law. ..................
https://www.news-press.com/story/news/local/state/2020/03/02/coronavirus-florida-health-secretary-now-broad-power-contain-spread-scott-rivkees/4927977002/