Anti-maskers rage at 'devil's laws' mandate in Florida's Palm Beach

Officials in Florida's Palm Beach were faced with a barrage of complaints as they considered a regulation to make face-masks compulsory in public places as a measure to combat coronavirus.

At the hearing of the Palm Beach County commissioners' workshop on Tuesday (June 23), the officials were told by one woman they were imposing 'devil's laws' and that masks were 'literally killing people'.

Another woman railing against the masks told the commission: "I don't wear a mask for the same reason I don't wear underwear. Things got to breathe."

The legislation was enacted despite the sometimes angry arguments from the anti-maskers, the Miami Herald reported.

On Friday (June 26), three days after the Palm Beach hearing, the United States recorded 45,242 new cases of COVID-19, the largest single-day increase of the pandemic, according to a Reuters tally, bringing the total number of Americans who have tested positive to at least 2.48 million.

Florida state officials told bars to immediately stop serving alcohol on their premises after recording a startling 8,942 new cases, eclipsing the state's one-day record of 5,511 reached on June 24.

President Donald Trump has not appeared in public wearing a mask and has expressed disdain for those who do.

Widespread face mask use could push COVID-19 transmission down to controllable levels according to a British study released earlier this month.

The research, led by scientists at Cambridge and Greenwich Universities, suggests lockdowns alone will not stop the resurgence of the coronavirus, but that even homemade masks can dramatically reduce transmission rates if enough people wear them in public.

Production: Michael Fiorentino, Jim Hatley)

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