Florida set for reopening milestone

Restaurants, stores can open at reduced capacity Monday

Florida’s restaurants and stores will begin welcoming customers at half capacity Monday — in the largest reopening of the state since the coronavirus outbreak began.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that such businesses across the state would open at 50% capacity after many originally operated at 25% in recent weeks. The move comes a day after the governor said Broward and Miami-Dade

counties, which had kept nonessential businesses closed, would similarly reopen Monday at 50% capacity.

Gyms also would be allowed to open across the state, except for Broward and Miami-Dade counties, because county officials worried the virus would spread.

The state is ready to allow more customers in stores and restaurants as long as safety remains the priority, DeSantis said. Recent trends in declining numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths prompted the latest decision, DeSantis said. “I think that this is appropriate given the progress Florida has made,” he said. “I think it can be done safely.”

“We were doing retail in some form or another this whole time,” DeSantis said. “You had Home Depot open, you have Walmart, you have all these places open, so there’s not a whole lot of difference to me between going into a Home Depot and going into a JoAnn Fabric or some of these other places.”

Still, some doctors expect Florida to proceed as slowly and cautiously as possible in allowing businesses to reopen.

“There’s no magic number about 25%, 50%. It’s all guesswork,” said Dr. Roderick King, CEO for the Florida Institute for Health Innovation and an associate professor at University of Miami’s medical school.

“However, most people in public health will say the slower the better.

“Starting off at 25% is the most prudent way to begin to reopen so we can figure out all the logistics around social distancing and creating a safe place [versus] going from 0 straight to 50,” King said.

A confusing reopening

Since shutdown orders began in March to combat infection rates of the virus, and keep the hospitals free for the most severe cases, Florida’s first round of business openings began May 4 — with a mishmash of schedules.

Restaurants and retail stores that weren’t deemed essential were allowed to reopen at 25% capacity, except for South Florida, which kept nonessential businesses closed. Many of Florida’s state parks also were allowed to open, but the state parks in South Florida were kept shut.

Palm Beach County had been working in unison with Broward and Miami-Dade counties on its schedule to reopen businesses, but then it broke from the pack when it allowed them to reopen earlier this week. Palm Beach County businesses will have operated at 25% capacity for only a week before they step up to 50% on Monday.

Not all businesses are ready to reopen.

While West Palm Beach eateries around him reopen at 50% capacity, Jason Lakow, owner of comfortfood bistro Mazie’s, will keep his dining room shut. Mazie’s has been closed since the statewide shutdown in March.

His margins are already so slim that going to 50% capacity “is not practical and not enough to generate a profit,” Lakow says.

When Mazie’s dining room reopens, perhaps by October, its concept will probably change from finedining to fast-casual marketplace, filled with more prepared to-go dishes.

“For restaurants to survive and recover losses, they must be at full capacity all the time, but restaurants are also the problem,” Lakow says. “They’re just the worst environment for coronavirus and they’re going to make everyone sick. They should stay closed.”

Gyms

Also Friday, the governor flung open the doors for gyms statewide to open at 50% capacity on Monday — but Broward and Miami-Dade counties won’t be part of that plan, keeping the gyms closed for precaution.

Broward’s reopening plan allows for gyms in multi-family developments to open with certain precautions, but it excludes commercial gyms. And that plan will stay in effect, the county mayor said Friday afternoon.

Gyms “are oftentimes crowded facilities,” said County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness. “We still need to move forward with caution. I know people would like to see everything open but others are telling us they want to make sure their health is protected. We have to do everything in a safe way. We’ll make adjustments as we go along. After we see how this works we’ll go into the next phase of openings.”

The goal and reason for the delay to stay apart from the state, he said, is “to protect the public.”

“The Governor’s Executive Order says all Florida counties may reopen on Monday, May 18, but local counties have the final say,” said Ryan Ash, the governor’s spokesman. “In Miami-Dade and Broward, gyms will not open this Monday.”

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Friday that no gyms will be allowed to open for now, including at condos, making it even more restrictive than Broward. The issue, he said, is when someone who is “contagious [is] touching the equipment” and other people following them.

“We’re trying to find a solution and I’m not sure I can,” he said.

Palm Beach County’s gyms and fitness centers will be allowed to open Monday at 50% capacity, said Myra Figueroa, a Palm Beach County spokeswoman.

Stressing the importance of exercise, the governor said it is safe for people to hit the treadmill with appropriate social distancing and sanitizing measures.

“Don’t we want people to be getting exercise?” DeSantis said during a visit to Ascension St. Vincent’s Riverside Hospital Clinic Building in Jacksonville. “Don’t we want people to be getting in shape?”

Beaches

Beaches remain closed in Broward, but the sand will be open Monday in Palm Beach County.

County commissioners decided Friday to reopen the beaches with everyone warned to practice social distancing.

Restrictions discussed earlier will not be in place. Instead of limiting the beach to swimming, running, walking, fishing, surfing and biking, the county decided to let beachgoers bring umbrellas, coolers and towels to sunbathe.

And after considering whether to limit the beaches to Palm Beach County residents, commissioners decided to open them to everyone.

Beaches will be open from sunrise to sundown, although South Inlet Park in Boca Raton is not included.

People must follow guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Groups must be fewer than 10 people, and beachgoers must stay at least 6 feet apart.

Lifeguards will be responsible for enforcing social distancing and the CDC’s guidelines, County Administrator Verdenia Baker said.

Museums

Museums also are welcome to reopen at partial capacities, but that’s a decision for local officials.

Indoor movie theaters will continue to be closed across the state, because of the higher danger of the virus spreading in enclosed spaces, he noted.

In another announcement about restarting the economy, DeSantis said amusement parks are welcome to submit detailed plans about reopening with protections for staff and guests.

Libraries

The governor’s rules have also been relaxed statewide for libraries, which “may operate up to 50% of their building occupancy,” but in Broward, the county said it still was keeping its libraries closed for now, as did some cities that operate their own libraries.

A Broward County spokeswoman said Friday that its libraries — which have stayed open for staff only — would remain closed to the public, although seven county libraries would begin a “Walk-up/Driveup” service Monday to pick up reserved material.

Masked patrons will wait in their cars for their turn, and then they’ll be handed their materials in plastic bags through their car windows. Walk-up customers can retrieve materials at a designated table.

The Alvin Sherman Library on the campus of Nova Southeastern University will also stay closed to the public, for now.