Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., greets President Donald Trump as he steps off Air Force One upon arrival at the Orlando Sanford International Airport, Monday, March 9, 2020 in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
TAMPA (WFLA) – A majority of Florida voters want the state to require people to wear masks in public to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows 79% of Floridians say the state should require to wear face masks in public. Just 20% oppose a mandate.
“There is overwhelming support for requiring face masks among all ages and every other listed demographic group,” a press release from Quinniapiac said.
The news comes following Gov. DeSantis last month stating he doesn’t think it’s necessary to mandate masks.
“I think it’s something – we provide education, we did an advisory at the beginning of May and we’ve advised that that’s something that could make an impact,” he said. “But at the same time, to do police and put criminal penalties on that, is something that would probably backfire.”
83% of poll participants say the spread of the coronavirus is a serious problem in the state while 70% consider the spread of the coronavirus in Florida “out of control.”
When it comes, however, to whether voters think Gov. DeSantis should issue a stay-at-home order for the state to slow the spread of the coronavirus, they are split. 49% say yes, while 48% say no.
Additionally, 62% of voters think it will be unsafe to sent students to elementary, middle and high schools in the fall, and 57% think it will be unsafe for college students to return to campus.
Florida voters also mostly disapprove of DeSantis and Trump’s school reopening plans: 56% disapprove and 37% approve DeSantis’s handling of reopening schools, and for Trump, 59% disapprove and 36% approve.
According to Quinnipiac, DeSantis’s job approval is at 41%, its lowest since his taking office in 2019. Trump’s approval rating in the state is also down 5 percent points from where it was in April.
These results are from a poll that was conducted with live interviewers calling landlines and cell phones from July 16 to July 20 throughout the state of Florida. 924 responses were collected from registered voters with a sampling error of +/- 3.2 percentage points, and all data was managed by the Quinnipiac University poll.
