Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
South Florida may move to Phase 2
Governor cites ‘significant downward trends’ in virus cases, some wonder if move is premature
South Florida is on the verge of moving to Phase 2 of reopening from COVID-19, providing more relaxed rules for restaurants, stores and attractions, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.
Citing “significant downward trends” in coronavirus cases, the governor said he is discussing the move with Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, although some local officials wondered Wednesday whether the move is premature.
“I’m not saying I’m going to do it today or we’re gonna do it tomorrow,” DeSantis said. “[But] these are sustained trends at this point, and I think that that’s a good thing,” he said.
According to guidelines from the state, a Phase 2 reopening allows certain businesses and retail establishments to operate at reduced capacities.
For example, restaurants can continue to operate at 50% indoor seating and full capacity outdoors as long as outside seating is set up to provide for social distancing. Restaurants also could reopen bar-top seating.
A Phase 2 reopening also is supposed to allow bars, pubs and taverns to operate at 50% seating capacity, but DeSantis closed bars across the state when coronavirus
cases exploded. It’s unclear when those establishments will be able to reopen.
Also under Phase 2:
■ Museums and libraries may operate at full capacity if permitted by local governments.
■ Professional sports venues may remain open and continue operating for games, events, competitions and training.
■ Stores may operate at full capacity with appropriate social distancing and sanitizing protocols.
■ Organized youth activities, including youth sports teams and leagues, youth clubs and programs and child care, may operate.
■ Personal services businesses, including tattoo parlors, acupuncture establishments, tanning salons and massage businesses, may operate while adhering to guidance from the Florida Department of Health.
■ Parimutuel facilities may seek to operate with a written request from the county mayor or county administrator.
Outside South Florida, the rest of the state moved to Phase 2 weeks ago. The governor withheld the designation in South Florida because COVID-19 cases were still growing here.
Even with a Phase 2 order, county officials would have great leeway to determine how businesses can operate and when they can reopen.
Some South Florida officials preached caution Wednesday after hearing about the governor’s comments. They cited recommendations that the “positivity rate” — the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back positive — should be under 5% for two weeks in a row before reopening.
Positivity rates were higher Wednesday in South Florida: 6.1% in Broward, 5.8% in Palm Beach County and 9.7% in Miami-Dade.
Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday, but he said Friday that he is concerned about moving to Phase 2 at the same time schools are reopening.
“It brings more weight to the decision, because we’re talking about 180,000 children going back out into the school system. … And now we have to worry about a simultaneous exposure of young children and adults going back into the economy at the same time,” Kerner said.
The Palm Beach County School District plans to physically reopen schools one week after entering Phase 2.
In Broward County schools, Phase 2 is one of five criteria the district will consider when deciding to offer face-to-face instruction. The others are prevalence of the virus in the county; the county’s ability to manage the virus’ spread through quick test results and contract tracing; hospital rates and capacity; and availability of personal protective equipment and sanitization materials.
Superintendent Robert Runcie said the district is looking for a positivity rate of about 3% to 5%. He said it’s encouraging that Broward’s rates have fallen below 10% in recent days.
“I’m hopeful in three to four weeks if we continue that, we’ll get to a point where we can move to some model that will get kids in school for at least some portion of the week,” Runcie said.
Miami-Dade schools have worked with the county and health experts to develop eight “gating criteria” for reopening. These include a 14-day “sustained positivity rate” of less than 10% and trending toward 5%; a steady reduction in hospitalizations; an increase in testing availability; and test results returned within 48 hours.
Broward County Commissioner Lamar Fisher said he wants to be sure the state is not rushing to lift restrictions.
“I think we need to look at the option and watch our numbers and be very cautious,” he said. “I appreciate the governor providing the opportunity, but we have to be cautious what we do open up. We’re just now seeing the trend downwards — we don’t want to uptick our numbers again.”
Broward Vice Mayor Steve Geller emphasized the need for a sustained period of positive tests under 5%.
He said he’d like to open businesses as soon as possible and wants to avoid closing any more of them down. “But in order to do that, we have to follow the science … and not move too quickly,” he said.
“The last time we opened, when we ended the lockdown, everyone thought, ‘Happy days are here again. We don’t need to wear masks, we don’t need to do social distancing, we have a constitutional right to party.’ Wrong.”
Ultimately the decision to move to the next phase rests with Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry, who said the governor’s office has not contacted her.
Henry said Broward has “been so focused on getting our cases under control” that officials haven’t made plans for relaxing the rules.
The governor might be planning a “slow walking” into Phase 2, she said. “I would like to talk to him and find out what he means. I’m going to reach out to the governor’s office now.”
Similarly, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez said he could not immediately comment because he didn’t know the governor was considering the action.
“I have to speak to the governor and see where he’s coming from,” he said.