Answers to your questions about the governor’s order

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Friday the state was moving to Phase 3 reopening from the conoravirus pandemic.

Q: What exactly did the governor do?

A: Most of Florida had been operating under a Phase 2 reopening plan since early June, with restaurants at 50% capacity. Bars had also been allowed to operate at 50% capacity, but they were barred from selling alcohol for more than two months until just a few weeks ago. Now, Florida restaurants and bars can operate at full capacity with no restrictions.

Q: Can local governments still enact stricter requirements?

A: Yes and no. DeSantis’s order overrules all local coronavirus-related requirements for bars and restaurants. But cities and counties can still impose a minimum 50% capacity restriction as long as they “provide the justification,” DeSantis said. “And they’ve got to identify what the costs involved with doing that are.”

The order also would not allow any local coronavirus ordinance to prevent a business from being open, or from “prevent[ing] an individual from working.”

The implications of this are unclear.

Q: Does this mean mandatory masks rules are now withdrawn?

A: No. Local mandatory mask rules for public spaces are still in place. DeSantis did, however, waive all outstanding fines and penalties given out to people for not wearing face coverings in public. In Seminole County’s case, while there are penalties for not wearing a mask in public, no one had actually been fined.

State and federal health officials still strongly recommend wearing face coverings and socially distancing, and many businesses have their own rules about mask-wearing.

Q: What about retail, theme parks and sports?

A: Retail businesses had already been allowed to operate at 100% capacity beginning in May, as have theme parks and sports facilities.

Individual businesses continued to enforce their own private rules, however, including limiting capacity and enforcing masks.

Q. Is it possible the state could see a shutdown again if cases start to rise?

A. DeSantis has increasingly questioned the viability of coronavirus-related business restrictions, appearing at an indoor maskless roundtable with bar owners earlier this month, and has vowed to never shut down the state again, no matter what.

“The idea that government dictating this is better than [restaurant owners] making these decisions … I think is misplaced,” DeSantis said.

Q. What are the political implications of this?

A. DeSantis has largely followed President Trump’s lead amid the coronavirus outbreak, and a full reopening of a major swing state could act as a signal that the economy is back on track just weeks before the presidential election.

But Democrats criticized the governor for what they said was a premature reopening.

“It’s clear that DeSantis not only failed at containing coronavirus, but like Trump, he’s completely given up on even trying,” said state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando.

State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, also said the order could be politically motivated.

Q: So does this mean the coronavirus pandemic is over?

A: No. On Friday alone, Florida added 2,847 coronavirus cases to push the statewide total to 695,887 infected. Another 120 new virus fatalities were reported statewide, with the seven-day average rising again above 100 deaths per day. And nearly 14,000 Florida residents are now dead.

Nationwide, the number of dead, almost 203,000, is equivalent to a 9 /11attack every day for 67 days. And the number of new daily confirmed cases in the U.S. jumped 17% over the past 14 days while the death count jumped 5%, The New York Times reported, as cases also begin to rise in Canada and Europe.