JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday afternoon that Florida will now enter into Phase 3 of reopening.
This means that local restaurants can reopen at a minimum of 50 percent and can operate at full capacity if allowed. If local ordinances restrict restaurants from operating less than fifty percent, the counties will have to explain why.
“So I think that this will be very, very important to the industry and it also will be a recognition that they have worked as hard as anybody to create safe environments. In fact, the idea that government dictating this is better than them making these decisions so that their customers have confidence, I think is misplaced," DeSantis said. “And I’ve gone to many restaurants over the last many months and they take this obligation seriously. They want customers to have confidence. And so they have every incentive to want to do that going forward.”
According the Florida’s reopening plan that was published in April, Phase 3 will begin “after the successful conclusion of Phase 2, which includes a downward trajectory of the syndromic and epidemiology criteria while maintaining adequate health care capacity. This will occur when there is no evidence of a rebound or resurgence of COVID-19 cases.”
The only thing that is different from the reopening plan will be bars. If bars want to increase capacity past 50 percent, they have to get approval by local authorities.
DeSantis also announced that all outstanding fines and penalties that have been implemented against individuals for not wearing a face mask has been lifted.
Phase 3 is the final phase in reopening for the state.
DeSantis made the announcement during a press conference in St. Petersburg following a round table yesterday that focused on COVID-19 cases in Florida.