In a press briefing on April 29, 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke about Miami-Dade which has to remain under lock down as he opens up the state… “Before this “Dade Broward and Palm Beach we’re all doing so well… You drive in Miami, you couldn’t move 10′ without seeing a crane somewhere.” He was referring to the building boom in downtown Miami, but with fewer people and cars on the streets, wildlife is finding its way back. An image search on google images shows an amazing array of wildlife reclaiming cities around the world.
Phase one of the Governors plan to re-open Florida includes:
- Schools must keep distance learning
- Visits to senior living facilities are prohibited
- Elective surgeries can resume
- Restaurants may offer outdoor seating with six feet of space between tables
- Indoor seating at restaurants must be at 25% capacity
- No change for bars, gyms and personal services, like hair dressers
- Vulnerable individuals should avoid close contact with people outside the home
- Everyone should maximize physical distance from others while in public
- Avoid socializing in groups of more than 10 people in circumstances that do not “readily allow for physical distancing”
- Face masks are recommended for those in face-to-face interactions and where you can’t social distance.
The Governor’s reopening plan applies for all Florida counties except Palm Beach, Miami-Dade and Broward counties, Governor DeSantis said. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said it could be a while longer before
businesses begin reopening in his county because they will need more
time to prepare for the new guidelines. Central Florida has seen the most cases of Covid-19. A curfew remains for all of Orange County from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily.
The mayor said he has no plans to lift that anytime soon. Demings didn’t give an exact date for when businesses would reopen but
said he doesn’t want to rush it and risk seeing a spike in Covid-19
cases.
The mayor said under the
governor’s order restaurants and retail shops can reopen in the county
if they are able to comply with the guidelines, including 6-feet between
customers and maintaining a 25% occupancy. “In the
absence of recommendations from our task force that they can get to me
in a timely manner, those entities will be able to reopen on Monday as
long as they do so in compliance with the governor’s order.” Demings
said. There is a nationwide shortage on personal protective equipment as well
as hand sanitizer, two requirements of the governor’s mandate.
The Guidelines for Reopening Businesses Group is expected to
put out a finalized list of guidelines businesses would have to follow,
both recommendations and mandates. The group, which included major
theme parks and business leaders, met Wednesday morning, turning to
health care officials with both Orlando Health and AdventHealth for
guidance on what those guidelines could look like.
The group is expected to meet again Thursday and Friday to continue developing a plan to safely reopen the county.
At last check, there were more than 33,690 confirmed cases in Florida with 1,268 deaths. There were 1,339 confirmed cases in Orange C0unty with 30 deaths. Florida Medical Examiners Commission chairman Dr. Stephen Nelson said that state officials asked them to withhold Covid-19 death figures. The pause in reporting, has been occurring for nine days. The blackout comes as Republican Governor Ron DeSantis contemplates how Florida will begin to reopen amid the pandemic.