A federal appeals court decided late Friday to lift the COVID-19 related restrictions imposed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on cruise ships in Florida. Florida had initially won in blocking the CDC’s cruise ship order in a district court in June, until the three-judge panel on 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month blocked that decision, ruling that the CDC’s COVID-19 restrictions must apply to Florida-based cruise ships. But the Atlanta-based court late Friday reversed its decision in a two-page ruling, letting the lower court order stand and rejecting the federal government’s request, saying that it had “failed to demonstrate an entitlement to a stay pending appeal.” The decision came hours after Florida filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court seeking to lift the appellate court’s order. The filing said that the CDC had exceeded its authority in imposing the rules and that Florida is “irreparably harmed” by …