● Checkpoints in Keys will remain,

Bureaucratic drama continued Monday over two checkpoints Monroe County put up Friday to keep non-residents out of the Florida Keys to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

They’re still staying put, however.

But they are only standing after the county objected to a direct order from the state to do away with them.

A Florida Department of Transportation official at 12:46 p.m. Monday ordered Monroe County to remove the checkpoints because they were “not authorized,” according to an email obtained by the Miami Herald.

“Please work with the sheriff to discontinue the operation by 5 p.m. today,” wrote James Wolfe, the District 6 secretary of FDOT.

But the checkpoints, one at mile marker 112.5 on the 18-mile stretch on U.S. 1 and the other on County Road

905, are here to stay, said Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi on

Monday evening.

Wolfe gave Gastesi a “verbal OK” for the blockades late Monday afternoon and then sent him a text message in the evening assuring him they could stay in place, said county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood.

“Your checkpoint is approved as requested,” Wolfe wrote, according to the text, which the county shared with the Herald.

So far, more than 1,300 vehicles have been turned away from both checkpoints, which began Friday morning.

Upper Keys officials wanted the checkpoints, saying day-trippers from Miami-Dade were coming down to the Keys.

Key West City Commissioner Sam Kaufman obtained the email exchange and posted it on Facebook.

Kaufman included Wolfe’s email and photo in the post.

Kaufman wrote, “The temporary checkpoint has been a productive tool to enforce social distancing and encouraging people to stay safer at home!”

Gwen Filosa: KeyWestGwen