Florida Phase-3 Executive Order, ‘Misconstrued Critics’ says DeSantis

FLORIDA, UNITED STATES – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday that the state is moving into full phase 3 reopening, and he is lifting all capacity restrictions on restaurants, effective immediately.

DeSantis made the announcement Friday during a news conference at a St. Petersburg hotel.

“I think that this will be very, very important to the industry,” DeSantis said. “The order that I’m signing today will guarantee restaurants can operate and will not allow closures. They can operate at a minimum of 50%, regardless of local rule.”

Statewide, there will also be a suspension of collecting fines or fees for restrictions like not wearing a mask, DeSantis said.

“I think we need to get away from trying to penalize people for social distancing and just work with people, constructively.”

The executive order for Phase-3 is in its entirety below and can be downloaded. The cliff notes are as follows:

1. Removes state-level restrictions on businesses, such as restaurants.
2. Provides that no COVID-19 emergency ordinance may prevent an individual from working or operating a business, giving Floridians and business owners needed certainty and the ability to provide for themselves and their families.
3. Provides that restaurants may not be limited by a COVID-19 emergency order by any local government to less than 50% of their indoor capacity. If a restaurant is limited to less than 100% of its indoor capacity, such COVID-19 emergency order must satisfy the following:
   • -Quantify the economic impact of each limitation or requirements on those restaurants; and
   • Explain why each limitation or requirement is necessary for public health.
4. Suspends all outstanding fines and penalties, and the collection of such moving forward, applied against individuals related to COVID-19. 

Critics are blasting Governor DeSantis in opinion pieces on CNN. One critic, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, said Friday that America is “nowhere near containment” and described part of DeSantis’ order forbidding local governments from collecting fines for not wearing face masks in public as ‘unthinkable’.

“These are all the wrong sort of decisions as far as actually trying to bring this pandemic under control,” Gupta claimed.

On Fox News, DeSantis told Laura Ingraham, that Gupta and his ‘ilk’ had misconstrued Florida’s experience of COVID-19.

“We have to have a situation where individuals can make decisions about what makes sense for them,” DeSantis said, “If it’s something you are not comfortable doing, nobody will force you to do it. But I think people need to be free to choose.”

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