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DeSantis Issues Statewide Stay-At-Home Order For Florida (Updated With Order Text)
April 1, 2020
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a 30-day executive stay-at-home order for the entire state effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
He did not officially call it a stay-at-home order during a press conference, instead calling it a “Safer at Home” order, saying that Floridians should limit movements to only essential services.
The order defines “essential services” as those on a list from the Department of Homeland Security (pdf here).
The text of the order is below.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, RON DESANTIS, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section (l)(a) of the Florida Constitution, Chapter 252, Florida Statutes, and all other applicable laws, promulgate the following Executive Order to take immediate effect:
Section 1. Safer At Home
A. Senior citizens and individuals with a significant underlying medical condition (such as chronic lung disease, moderate-to-severe asthma, serious heart conditions, immunocompromised status, cancer, diabetes, severe obesity, renal failure and liver disease) shall stay at home and take all measures to limit the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
B. In concert with the efforts of President Trump and the White House Coronavirus Task Force to fight COVID-19, and based on guidance provided by Florida Surgeon General and State Health Officer, Dr. Scott Rivkees, all persons in Florida shall limit their movements and personal interactions outside of their home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities.
Section 2. Essential Services
A. For purposes of this Order and the conduct it limits, “essential services” means and encompasses the list detailed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce, v. 2 (March 28, 2020) (attached) and any subsequent lists published.
B. Essential services also include those businesses and activities designated by Executive Order 20-89 and its attachment which consists of a list propounded by Miami-Dade County in multiple orders.
C. Other essential services may be added under this Order with the approval of the State Coordinating Officer, in close coordination with the State Health Officer. The State Coordinating Officer shall maintain an online list of essential services, as specified in this Order along with any approved additions. The online list shall be available on the Division of Emergency Management’s website at www.floridadisaster.org and the Florida Department of Health’s website at www.floridahealth.gov.
D. Nothing in this order prohibits individuals from working from home; indeed, this Order encourages individuals to work from home.
E. All businesses or organizations are encouraged to provide delivery, carry-out or curbside service outside of the business or organization, of orders placed online or via telephone, to the greatest extent practicable.
Section 3. Essential Activities
A. For purposes of this Order and the conduct it limits, “essential activities” means and encompasses the following:
- Attending religious services conducted in churches, synagogues and houses of worship; and
- Participating in recreational activities (consistent with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, or swimming; and
- Taking care of pets; and
- Caring for or otherwise assisting a loved one or friend.
B. Other essential activities may be added to this list with the approval of the State Coordinating Officer, in close coordination with the State Health Officer. The State Coordinating Officer shall maintain an online list of essential activities, as specified in this Order along with any approved additions.
C. A social gathering in a public space is not an essential activity. Local jurisdictions shall ensure that groups of people greater than ten are not permitted to congregate in any public space.
Comments
67 Responses to “DeSantis Issues Statewide Stay-At-Home Order For Florida (Updated With Order Text)”
Are mobile groomers allowed? As we are alone with one per at a time?
So, going out looking to buy houses an entering occupied homes to look at them for potential buying is an essential? To me it seems that would be endangering others of possible contact due to someone that might be contracting the virus without ever knowing.
Are groomers ok to work if we work in a facility that sells dog food and other essentials?
You shouldn’t get your dog groomed until this is over the virus can end up in your dogs fur and then your dog can bring it into your home. Even if your groomer is wearing gloves, your dog could lick the groomers face or any number of things. Your dog should be practicing social distancing too. Be safe clean everything that comes into your home.
What about the inmates in florida prisons that to close contact
I think he should open the beaches and practicing social distancing and the life guards are there so they could in force that the heat and vitamin D effects it in a good way. Just do something!!
A dog grooming shop considered as essential?
This is just lip service! Every business under his stay at home order, almost every business is considered essential so really all Florida expect restaurants are open for business! The Governor is not taking care of Floridans. I really appreciate my job and need the money, but would like to live long enough to see all my grandchildren grow. Everybody you need to take care of yourself cause the Governor is money before life.
Take care and take charge to protect your family!
I love life and my family!!
You can not fix stupid. Either from the left or the right. Take personal responsibility for you and you families. Stay at home unless necessary. Keep you distance from out side your immediate house hold. Use common sense to avoid getting infected. Clean you groceries before bringing in to the house. Repackage when you can. Wash clothes when having to be out in the store for staples. Use bleach solution to clean you home, doors, knobs, counters, bathrooms. Shower after an outing. Bath you pets if they have been petted by strangers. Stock up on staples for 2 weeks. Do not hoard supplies. You can not eat paper products. The virus lives on the serfaces of the cruise ships for 9 day after being empty. It is air born. It is invisible and you get to take responsibility for your family. Worry about them and focus on them. Not the miss information. This is gonna get worse than better. Be safe you all. This is serious.
Will child exchanges written in court order still be taking place at this time?
Am i allowed to take mother back to her home within state of Florida? it is 2 hrs away within the state or will i get pulled over? She wants to be near her medical doctors
If everyone would have followed the “suggestions “ to begin with, we might have begin on a road to recovery by now! But you have your Brock Lee’s out there that keep right on!! Defiant to the bitter end, at the expense of others!
@brock lee
And that’s exactly why we’re a brown zone. Thanks for that! The great and wise sheriff of escambia county Florida has already been on Facebook to state this only applies to 65 and older and immunosuppressed and he’s not going to enforce it. So what’s everybody so scared of? Not one thing is going to change, and people will keep dying. NW Florida HAS no help. We’ve been deserted by the very office chosen to serve and protect us. Cuz people wanna party!
I like the part where he say he wants more people to work from home. Ok genius! You tell that to all the people who are out of work like waiters, waitresses, cooks, and so on! You are an idiot and shouldn’t be any kind of state official!! That stimulus check would help them much at all!
He should be sued for not doing it 3 weeks sooner and putting everyone at risk
This may not be of interest to anyone, but Monday our family lost a cousin by marriage to the COVID-19 virus. The family effected lives around Doylestown, Pennsylvania. They are hurting. Husband was carried to ER Monday, respirator placed 2:30 a.m., positive results came in Thursday, died this past Monday. Prayers for all Government Officials and especially President Trump along with Senate and House of Representatives. Being this has never been in our United States they are doing the best they can. Romans Chapter 13 states for us to listen to our higher authorities as long as what is recommended is not against God’s Word.
While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced his stay-at-home order Wednesday, Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill is pushing for beaches to be re-opened. WAIT !!!! WHAT ?!!!! Is this crazy???
DeSantis is an idiot. What on God’s green earth was he waiting for? It was more important for him to stroke Trump’s ego than it was to consider human life. He has compromised every health care worker, grocery clerk, delivery people, etc… All of the heroes in this dire situation have been totally disregarded by DeSantis. He should be ashamed of himself. I know I am ashamed to have him as a governor.
This same sentiment holds true for Commissioner Underhill suggesting that the beaches, along with restaurants should be reopened.
If DeSantis or Underhill needs medical assistance, I pray, for their sake, that there are still heroes out there willing to help these selfish creeps.
This is the best April Fool’s joke of all. Oh wait President Trump did one better when he stated that he “is considering” something. Considering just means he had to make a statement but is not really going to do anything. These 2 political people are going to mess around until half of our country has died from this virus
What does this mean for construction workers?
Really people. This is a dangerous and killing virus. These government officials are trying to save lives. No one knows what it can do and how many will die. They are trying to stop the spread. I have not seen my grand children in one month because I don’t want to spread it to them or visa verse. Is it so important to not stay at home and infect others. I think it is selfish of people. Not following our officials. Why don’t we just fire the President and all Governors! Why not no body listens to authority anymore. Mose people don’t follow God’s law so what is new!
I am going to do what I can do…stay at home! I see people outside a church today…about 100 people outside and hugging and kissing really? They will be the ones to first complain. Opening beaches will cause of stream of outsiders and locals to hit the beaches and no way are they going to distance there selves. Very Flustrated.
So in accordance with the Florida Constitution and state statutes that do not say anywhere that you have this authority, you are assuming this authority?
Good one, Governor.
Child sharing IAW Court order between homes? Allowed or not?
I agree with @Donna Bannecke that dog groomers should be allowed to stay open as she stated they deal with one customer at a time. My groomer even came to the car and took the dogs inside. We picked them up when they called us and even put the dogs in the car. There are other small mom and pops that could do that and still remain open and safe.Try going to Walmart and other grocery stores and there are wall to wall people bumping into each other in the isles. Panic Panic
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT USES THE BANKS, DRUG STORE AND OTHER STORES IN ATMORE WILL WE BE STOPPED ALSO
I have not seen how they are going to enforce it and or the penalty should someone not obey it. Or is it just a request to do voluntarily to keep people from socializing at places such as groceries and big box stores?
Gotta love em.
You can’t legislate morality.
Or common sense.
Or good behavior.
You can only devise a system of punishment for the inevitable failures.
Which does nothing to prevent them, so we all must live with the consequences. This of course applies to the COVID-19 coronavirus impact, effects, and response from citizens and governments.
Do you really need leaders and officials to convince you to stay home and wash your hands? No you don’t. You need them to convince the “others”. The people you believe do not have enough sense to do it on their own. You need the force of law and its power to punish to make people behave better and stop threatening you with their indifference.
But consequences, the only thing the law can provide, come only after the bad behavior, which will come without regard to your needs or fears, or the rules and regulations imposed to prevent it.
On the spectrum from “business as usual” to martial law, there are a seemingly endless set of precarious choices that must inform our own lives and the actions of our elected and appointed government officials.
Something short of full quarantine, armed guards, and sniper nests ought to allow for safe activities like walking the dog and getting some fresh air and exercise.
Parks open? Parks closed? What does it matter? All of the space in our city that does not fall within a park is just as safe and dangerous as any other.
Insisting that people not go out at all is not viable. Encouraging them to know and follow sensible guidelines while they take advantage of the city’s beautiful public spaces to find some comfort and solace is more likely to reduce their stress and yield better mental health and attitudes. This would be a good consequence.
We are all stuck with all of us. While you may be able to prevent your own bad behavior – and we sincerely hope you will – you have no hope of preventing anyone else’s.
Stay home. Wash your hands. Keep your distance.
Fast food restaurants still open?
Golf should be added to the list of ‘essential activities’ as it was in the Dallas Texas order. Lots of separation and open air activity, a number of standard rules could be applied to minimize player and employee exposure to the viruses.
The Stay at Home order doesn’t mean anything unless a mandatory curfew is in place. The curfew gives law enforcement the ability to enforce the order. With out it, nothing can be done. So it’s useless at this point. Just gets a bunch of people upset. God forbid you can’t go randomly drive around. Everyone complaining in this state are spoiled brats. The people that should be out right now are people coming and going from the few necessary activities like work, going to the doctor, getting something from the store etc. Instead, people are just bored at home and out driving around at night. Also, I still haven’t been able to find toilet paper, which is absurd, anyone know where we can get some?
And tyranny slowly tightens it’s icy grip…
Donna Bannecke.
Maybe you can setup a post that people can latch their animals to then walk back before you take the dog and you can do the same in reverse. That would keep you from coming within a few feet of your customers. According to the federal document I didn’t see anything specifically listing nor disallowing your business. But I’d double check that federal document.
God bless you .. I pray God will place a hedge of protection over the state of Florida.. I pray that he will guide our state officials and people placed to protect us. Thank you for updating us on all of this.
People,people people
Look up the 1918 flu outbreak and compare today’s cases. Very very similar, the 20-29 year olds were hit just as hard as today’s. Authorities waited way too long to protect the public. Look this up before commenting.. we lost over 500,000 then with allot less people in the USA.
STAY HOME AND LIVE
Section3 says you can fish if you keep distance.
Yes liquor stores are essential services, there are many people that if they stop drinking would need to be hospitalized.
I can’t tell time myself. I was forgetting it is Wednesday. Add 24 hrs to the time I have in my previous post.
Would dog groomers be open?
This order is just putting on paperwork the common sense things that we should be doing anyway, but we still can’t fix stupidity.
I say if guns shops are essential then so be it for alcohol stores.
What about probation. Do we still have to check in
Can seniors bike?
So in other words, a Stay Home Safe order means you can still walk around, bike, go fishing, go play, and so on, as long as you stay 6’ apart? That really makes no sense. How about abortion clinics, they are still open and they are performing surgeries, surgeries that kill babies, but no surgeries at hospitals for people who need them but can wait a while longer. Does that make sense? Not to me. We already see that people do not take responsibility, well, many people, and care enough about others to keep themselves at home if they don’t need to go out. People are still everywhere, going shopping and all. Essential should mean, go to work and hospital if need be, or doctor, and food shopping, that should be the only essential things you should be doing, otherwise what is the point of the order?
Come on y’all…..use the common sense I hope God gave ya’ll and stay home! I understand that there are things we must do….but saying, “I do what I want” makes you sound like an IDIOT! The doctors, nurses, and all other healthcare workers want to be able to go home to their families safely! Think of other people, not just yourself!
Brock Lee – you are part of the problem. This virus keeps spreading because people wont stay their butt at home. Because they have the mentality that they are invisible and wont catch it or just straight up don’t care.
Doesn’t seem to be anything limited by the ESSENTIAL list.
To quote Slim Pickens: “What in the wide wide world of sports is a going on here?”
Nothing about this says you can’t go to work it only suggest if you can work from home do it . And until I have the law telling me I cannot work work to make the money I need to cover my bills I will continue to work. Cause as most men who have had a divorce with children they owe some sort of child support so any money they are giving the American ppl it’s being stripped from them and handed to someone else therefore I haft to continue to work if I don’t and late on one child support payment then they take my license where I can’t drive to work so. Hey Florida you need to fix a lot of things hopefully this is the start to see the underlying issues of this State.
I am SO glad Desantis included outdoor activities as ‘essential’ unlike other states. This means that people will still be able to get out of the house and not go crazy!
I know I’ll be fishing, biking, swimming, etc with my family as much as I can, when I’m not working.
Calm down folks. It’s just a PR move. Nothing will change. It’s up to each individual to do the right thing.
They should also close restaurants. This basically is nothing more than a stunt so he can say he did something. Even though we all know this does nothing new. Like his traffic stops at the Florida border did anything to help flatten the curve. This is like putting a band-aid on a broken leg.
Midnight Thursday… the end of Thursday.. the ending of the day….not the beginning…
I’m a dog groomer and only see 1 customer at a time when they drop their dog off. Do I have to shut down my business too?
This is a joke! He’s just trying to get the other elected officials and the public off his back. This is never going to work because you can’t say people should limit their activities outside of the home. To most people that means they are still free to go do what they want with reckless disregard for the rest of the public. If you’re going to issue a stay at home order then grow a pair already and issue it and make people stay there. But we are dealing with the same politicians who say that liquor stores and beer distributors are “essential businesses”.
Good luck containing this. I do what I want!!
To late. You sold out to the rich. You did not care about your other citizens. Hope you sleep well at night. You blew it.
and for those of us who still have to pay our bills that don’t have 401k who are not rich to live paycheck-to-paycheck I guess we’re just screwed because our mortgage company said they don’t care my business will fail and I will be left with nothing.
>>So if he is going by military time, then it would be tonight when the clock strikes 12:00am, the order would be in effect
Good point.
DeSantis did not specify military time during his press conference. By dictionary definition, “the middle of the night specifically : 12 o’clock at night” and per the Associated Press Stylebook “It is part of he day that is ending, not the one that is beginning”. He was at a press conference (that’s why I referenced AP Style), so if speaking correctly he should mean the end of the day Thursday.
We will find out when the written order comes out later this afternoon.
Sounds like Beth and Linda want a police state.
Who knows what they’ve got planned next for us.
I am in Texas right now and I have doctor appointments the 23rd and 27th. Will I still be able to come home?
It’s about time! Why did you wait soooo long. You put your medical professionals in terrible danger, and some of them aren’t even old enough to “save your economy by sacrificing themselves for everyone’s 401K.” This is EXACTLY what greed does…shows what & who we value.
This is a good thing. People need to be mandated to stay at home to protect and save our lives. If we keep going at this rate, jobs won’t matter because there will be no one to work them at the End of this Virus. We need to stop the spread of it. Protect our children our future.
Midnight, or 0000, in military time, is the beginning of the day. So if he is going by military time, then it would be tonight when the clock strikes 12:00am, the order would be in effect. This seems more plausible as well considering it doesn’t put a 36 hour wait on the order that you are suggesting.
Does this mean I can’t go fishing now…
“midnight Thursday? So 36 hours from now or 12?”
Midnight, by definition, is part of the day that is ending, not the one that is beginning.
midnight Thursday? So 36 hours from now or 12?
Is a liquor store an “essential service?”