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CDC says mask rules will apply to Florida cruise ships not following sail order

WASHINGTON, July 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said late Friday that it will enforce its transit mask requirements on cruise ships in Florida that opt not to abide by its conditional sail order following a court ruling.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday abruptly reversed itself and said it would no longer block a lower court ruling that made the CDC's COVID-related cruise ship rules nonbinding in Florida.

CDC also said cruise ships not following its order must abide by other requirements including "reporting of individual cases of illness or death and ship inspections and sanitary measures to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases."

The CDC said it will not waive mask requirements in indoor spaces on cruise ships for those lines that are not voluntarily complying with its conditional sail order. (Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Edmund Klamann)