Florida will begin to reopen on May 4 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference on April 29 at 5:00pm. He outlined the steps to be taken to reopen the state, except for the Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties. (He will work separately with them.) The steps will begin on Monday, May 4. He stressed that “public health and safety” is of the utmost importance as the state reopens. Protecting the vulnerable is also a top priority.
The beginning of the press conference focused on fear, and how we never reached the predicted levels in Florida. He said, “The facts should be more important than the fear.” Cases were not nearly as bad in Florida as people had expected, and the Governor shared slides to show the predictions versus what we actually experienced. The peak of cases in Florida was hit on April 3.
There are five goals included with the Governor’s plan. They are:
1) Protect the Vulnerable
2) Increase Testing
3) Promote Social Distancing
4) Support Hospitals and Protect Healthcare Workers
5) Prevent Introduction from Outside of the State
Phase One for Florida will begin on Monday, May 4. Here is what it will include.
Schools remain distance learning.
Visits to senior living facilities are prohibited.
Elective surgeries can resume.
Restaurants may offer outdoors seating, with six foot space between tables, and indoor seating at 25% capacity.
Retail can operate at 25% of indoor capacity.
No change for bars, gyms, and personal services such as hair dressers.
Vulnerable individuals should avoid close contact with people outside the home.
All individuals, when in public, should maximize physical distance from others.
Avoid socializing in groups of more than 10 people in circumstances that do not readily allow for social distancing.
Face masks are recommended for all those in face-to-face interactions and where you can’t social distance.
The Governor mentioned that he plans to keep larger spaces such as movie theaters closed during Phase One. He then moved on to Florida’s next steps. The slide stated:
Key metrics to consider as we move to the next steps:
* The state maintains the health benchmarks of the Safe. Smart. Step-by-Step Plan
*Maintaining hospital bed capacity
*Monitoring COVID-19 test positivity rate
This does not need to take months. It will be based in our health metrics and guided by medical authorities.
The theme parks were not mentioned during the press conference. It is my assumption that the Orange County Economic Task Force will give an update on the parks by the end of the week. Governor DeSantis did say that the state will mostly follow the Three Phase Plan that has been outlined by President Trump.