TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the “next step forward” for reopening Florida on Wednesday but said three South Florida counties that have seen the most cases of the new coronavirus would be temporarily excluded.
“This new phase will start on Monday May 4 and will — for the time being — exclude Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties,” DeSantis said. “These counties have seen the lion’s share of the state’s epidemic, but they are trending in a positive direction.”
Under the governor’s reopening plan, elective medical procedures will resume statewide and restaurants in most of the state will be able to reopen outdoor seating and indoor seating at up to 25 percent of capacity with social distancing.
“I think being outside if you are 6 feet away, for me, that would not be any more risky than going to Costco or some of the things that Floridians have been doing throughout this whole time,” he said. “It may even reduce density in some of these grocery stores.”
Retail businesses that were not deemed essential businesses can now reopen at 25 percent capacity in most parts of the state.
“They can continue doing the curbside and everything they’ve been doing, but now have a 25 percent indoor,” he said.
The governor did not include gyms and personal services like hairdressers and barbers in his initial reopening plan. He also omitted bars and movie theaters.
“I’ve declined to go for movie theaters now,” he said. “I think prudence dictates that we go a little slow on that.”
The order allows museums and libraries to open at 25 percent capacity as long as they are permitted to do so by the relevant local government.
Florida’s Democratic Party was critical of the plan saying the governor’s task force was “laden with big business executives and Republican loyalists” but short on representation from labor, front-line medical professionals and epidemiologists.
Distance learning will continue for Florida school children and visitors won’t be allowed into long-term elder care facilities any time soon, according to DeSantis.
While the governor did not address beach openings, half of the state’s coastal counties have already given the OK for limited beach access. Such access generally means no sitting in chairs, sunbathing or being among large groups of friends.
The governor has been facing an unprecedented wave of unemployment in Florida and mounting pressure from the business community to reopen. DeSantis culled through recommendations from his re-open task force before announcing his plan.
“We’re going to be safe, smart and we’re going to do this step by step,” he said.
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At a news conference Monday at Tampa General Hospital, DeSantis said he’s cautious about lifting stay-at-home orders and allowing nonessential businesses to open. The number of hospitalized coronavirus patients is on a downward curve, with even the hardest-hit area — Miami-Dade County — having 45 percent of its ICU beds open.
While he’s not prepared to throw open Florida’s borders, DeSantis said Monday this signals the beginning of a return to normalcy.
“We’re seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. But slow and steady wins the race. It’s going to be very methodical and data driven,” he said. “This is uncharted territory. No one knows what this will do, so you want to go slow and steady and make the best decisions you can.”
DeSantis has opened state-sponsored drive-thru testing sites to the general public rather than limiting tests to those who are prescreened and show certain symptoms of the coronavirus.
These include the state-run drive-thru sites in Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami and Tampa. Find a list of coronavirus drive-thru testing sites in Florida compiled by the Florida Medical Association.
He said he’s also opening up walk-thru sites around the state for those who don’t drive.
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Meanwhile, Florida’s unemployment agency had received more than two million applications for unemployment as of Wednesday. That number includes duplicates by some applicants. The agency had processed 674,000 claims and paid out more than $553 million.
The state task force that made recommendations concerning Florida’s reopening is comprised of business leaders, elected officials, industry groups and educators. It held a series of virtual meetings last week to develop a short-term plan for reopening the state. The task force will also work on medium-term and long-term plans.
The announcement comes as the number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus rose to 33,193 and 1,218 deaths in Florida. See: 18 Florida Counties Report Coronavirus Deaths
DeSantis extended his safer-at-home emergency order for Florida’s more than 20 million residents until Monday. The order will then be replaced the governor’s new order, which “will maintain limitations on the movements of persons except for those businesses and services that are currently open and those businesses that reopen at 25 percent building occupancy.”
A poll of Florida voters released last week by Quinnipiac University found that an overwhelming majority did not want social distancing rules relaxed just yet.
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