Task force details reopening

Report lays out phases for recovery; no specific benchmark for success

TALLAHASSEE — Bars, restaurants and gyms should gradually be able to serve more customers, while theme parks, sporting venues and other events at large gathering spaces should take more time to come back online in Florida, even if cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, continue to dwindle.

Those are among the recommendations of the task force commissioned by Gov. Ron DeSantis on reopening the economy and how best to ease restrictions while guarding against more large outbreaks of the virus. The report was made public Thursday, the day after DeSantis said Florida would enter the Phase 1 “small step” of reopening starting Monday.

The report says Florida should enter Phase 2 if progress is shown with fewer new cases, a dwindling amount of positive cases as a percentage of the number of tests and there is ample capacity at hospitals to deal with a sudden surge of cases. It also suggests making sure there is enough personal protective equipment at hospitals and other health care facilities and that testing is drastically increased. Tracing the contacts of any new positive case also is important to prevent new spreads, the report says.

“If the state shows consistent success, these guidelines contemplate advancement to the next phase,” the report states. “If, how

ever, COVID-19 data suggests increased spread, the state should remain in the current phase.”

There are no specific benchmarks in the report for the level of new cases or other measures needed to move to the next phase, but DeSantis on Wednesday said progress would be judged in “weeks not months.”

In Phase 2, restaurants could operate at 75 percent capacity, and bars and nightclubs could open their doors for the first time since DeSantis shut them down on April 3 at 50 percent capacity, while still following distancing guidelines and sanitary protocols with tables 6 feet apart and tables restricted to 10 or fewer. Gyms could operate at 75 percent capacity; state parks could be opened to daytime use and beaches could be fully opened.

Personal services businesses, such as beauty parlors, barbershops and nail salons could operate at 50 percent capacity while requiring employees to wear face masks and sanitizing all equipment between each use. Retail businesses could also open at half capacity while directing customers to follow social distancing guidelines.

Vacation rentals would be restricted to in-state reservations only in Phase 2, according to the report’s guidelines, with accommodations prohibited to those who have traveled internationally or to a state with a widespread outbreak of COVID-19. There should also be 72 hours in between bookings to allow for thorough cleaning of the residence.

For larger venues, such as movie theaters, bowling alleys and concert halls, they could operate at 75 percent capacity, while limiting parties to 10 or fewer and maintaining 6 feet between parties. Workers should be screened and possibly required to wear masks. Sporting venues could open to half capacity as well.

Theme parks, though, are only instructed to “consider reopening with capacity limits, strict social distancing and proper measures to clean and disinfect.”

In Phase 3, most businesses could operate at full capacity with social distancing guidelines imposed for some, such as theme parks and sporting venues.

Nonessential travel would be fully allowed, state parks fully open, vacation rentals could resume regular operations but with thorough cleanings in between bookings.

Businesses should provide telecommuting accommodations for elderly workers and those with underlying conditions, populations more susceptible to the coronavirus.

The report generally follows the guidelines set out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the recommendations laid out by the White House for states to follow when reopening.

But it is just a series of suggestions to DeSantis, who already departed from its recommendations for Phase 1 when he kept restaurants at 25 percent capacity, instead of the 50 percent recommended by the report. He also chose not to partially reopen state parks, another task force proposal for the first phase.

Florida will have to nearly double the number of daily tests it conducts, the report suggests.