WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy says he disagrees with GOP governors in Florida and Texas who are blocking mask mandates even as covid-19 cases spike higher.

Cassidy, a Louisiana physician, said Sunday that “local officials should be listened to” if hospital ICUs in a community are full because of rising infections and school officials want to implement safeguards such as mask-wearing ahead of students returning in the fall.

He told CNN’s “State of the Union” that he doesn’t agree with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis or Texas Gov. Greg Abbott because as a conservative, he doesn’t want “to top down from Washington, D.C.,” and “I don’t want to top down from a governor’s office.”

In May, Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting local governments from imposing mask mandates. DeSantis in July issued an order barring school districts from requiring children to wear masks for in-person instruction.

Infections are soaring in those states and elsewhere due to the highly contagious delta variant. While officials stress vaccinations as the best protection, children under 12 are not yet eligible.

President Joe Biden last week criticized DeSantis and other officials who have moved to block the reimposition of mask mandates, calling on resistant Republican governors to “get out of the way” of vaccine rules.

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