“We are today moving into what we initially called phase 3,” DeSantis said during a news conference in St. Petersburg. “And what that’ll mean for the restaurants is there will not be limitations from the state of Florida. We’re also saying in the state of Florida everybody has a right to work. (Local governments) can do reasonable regulations but they can’t just say no.”
Democratic state Sen. Linda Stewart called the move politically motivated and questioned whether the timing was right because Florida continues to have a relatively high death and positivity rates compared with the rest of the country.
I literally was buying milk when I saw people ripping off their masks. No more fines. Nada.
Bars, Karoke, movies, salons, all open for business.
There are no words. Tears. My daughter and me will stay home as we have for the last 6 months but not everyone here will abide. No words. Just anger.
Herd immunity trials start here...today.
ST. PETERSBURG — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed an executive order lifting all remaining statewide coronavirus-related restrictions on businesses in Florida, including bars and restaurants.
The executive order all but rolls back the measures DeSantis put in place to combat the spread of the coronavirus and puts Florida into the last phase of its reopening plan.
The order immediately allows all businesses that had been shut down due to the pandemic to reopen, and it guarantees restaurants can operate at a minimum of 50 percent capacity.
The order also suspends all the collection of fees and penalties incurred by individuals who violated rules related to COVID-19. That includes those who violated local mask mandates, said DeSantis spokesman Fred Piccolo, thereby removing the enforcement mechanism from Pinellas and Hillsborough ordinances that require masks when inside public areas. The order did not address fines incurred by businesses.
“I think we need to get away from trying to penalize people for not social distancing and work with people constructively,” DeSantis said.
We have no recall provision in Florida. The Death panels are here.