Florida Suspends On Premise Consumption Of Alcohol At Bars Statewide

June 26, 2020

Friday morning, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation suspended on-premise consumption of alcohol at bars statewide.

The order includes businesses that derive over 50% of their gross revenue from selling alcoholic beverages for on premise consumption. They can continue to sell alcoholic beverages in sealed containers for consumption off the premises. Businesses that are also licensed as a restaurant or food service establishment may continue to operate as normal if they derive less than 50% or less of gross revenues from the sale of on premise consumption alcoholic beverages.

The action was in response to record-setting daily increases in the number of COVID-19 cases in Florida.

On Friday, Florida smashed the old one-day record with 8,942, topping the previous high of 5,508 that was reported on Wednesday. The number of cases in Escambia County were up 155 far exceeding the previous daily record of 92.

Comments

16 Responses to “Florida Suspends On Premise Consumption Of Alcohol At Bars Statewide”

  1. J Pittore on June 30th, 2020 11:22 am

    I have said from the beginning LOOK AT THE NUMBERS and percentages. 99+ % survival rate. Now look at the numbers for Bacterial Pneumonia, The Flu, and the common cold. These are equally or more deadly to the elderly and those with compromised immunity! So with that knowledge in hand, should our rudderless government pass down mandates and shut down for every flu season so we can all be ONE FLORIDA every year singing Kumbaya at 6′ spacing? Also someone please tell me if im in a restaurant and want a burger and a beer, is that beer going to make me more likely to contract Covid then say a glass of water?? Please sheeple, try to logically think for yourselves instead of being led astray by an overreaching, over hyping, media driven event that REEKS of Conspiracy from day one! Lets all pause for a second and realize once you allow freedoms and liberty to be taken away in the name of safety you deserve neither. Also they will never return again, just as thousands of mom and pop business’s go the way of the Dinosuar! Jim N.

  2. Nurse Donna on June 29th, 2020 12:44 am

    No vaccine. Hello. Your in sane to go out like nothing going on. Stay home. Cover up it’s a paper mask. No gaurantee you won’t get sick.its a horrible disease with no cure. Suffocate to death. Kids will be scared if they get it 10 times more cause they don’t know like us. Send em to school…not his kid just wanting economy be normal. Well it won’t. Till there’s a cure. Write the man. He don’t listen.unless Trump says do it. Watch him. His kissing his butt. Money deal. We’re guinny pugs to him. Remember his immigrant bus comment. Crammed in a bus like sardines spreading virus.. well. What are the kids on our busses gonna be doing. Think.

  3. Nurse Donna on June 29th, 2020 12:38 am

    Goood! Watch them dip the glass in water and put on a towel to dry? Watch how many people use that glass. Sneeze hug cough. It’s when you can’t breathe your be wishing you could. Trust me. Drink up.

  4. Stephen on June 28th, 2020 1:04 am

    What is the difference between a bar in a restaurant and a stand alone bar?

    It would be nice if they’d explain why one can serve alcohol and not the other, besides the ol’ “well, they serve food” line. Alcohol is alcohol.

  5. John on June 27th, 2020 9:15 pm

    I guess this means that everybody will be going to Wal Mart.

  6. Ed on June 27th, 2020 6:45 pm

    And why does everyone think the DBPR has the right to suspend a legal business? Even the governor only has that right under a state of emergency. Sheep…

  7. Donna on June 27th, 2020 9:47 am

    When are we ever going to get back to place where YOU are responsible for YOUR own action meaning :you provide for your housing ,food and health . If you have a compromise immune system You wear a mask ! You stay home ! You protect yourself from virus .
    Everyone else keeps living thier lives by their choice . This will never end if our country /community shuts down and doesn’t allow our natural healthy immunities do their job .

  8. David on June 26th, 2020 9:48 pm

    Well, where to start. From what I understand most of the increase is from 19 to late 20s. That age group has no problem dealing with the virus. That being said, I am a 55 yo father of 2 in the age bracket and can remember when I was that age. Just remember that it’s not about you, it can also be about you parents.

  9. steve on June 26th, 2020 8:15 pm

    Just think about this virus for a bit.
    It was released either by accident or with willful intent.
    But either way it has effected a entire planet.
    Any and all means done so far have not stopped it.
    Even if you had it months ago, the anti-bodies in your system will not protect you from getting it again. Its that bad.
    There was times in our history that 1/3 the population was taken out due to a global pandemic.
    But the survival rate of this is pretty high. like 99.7%. But its like the cold, it can be bad to some and nothing to others. Getting past the a point to where its just a minor inconvenience is what we need. I never feared going to disney over a cold that someone may have had. I never feared going on a cruise ship over some stomach bug. Its when we realize that like the FLU we will get over this and move on.
    I am ready for this to be over.

  10. JD on June 26th, 2020 6:25 pm

    So this is step one of the government cure-all for the virus. Ban alcohol sales by a bar on premises . By George they really on top of this . Yes and I’m laughing as I write this. Since the bars were last to open it just has to be their fault for the spike in cases. Never would’ve figured it out myself. C’mon man!!!!

  11. bob c on June 26th, 2020 6:05 pm

    So does this mean it’s okay for someone to go into a bar, purchase a couple of alcoholic beverages then go out and walk down the sidewalk and consume their drinks?
    How about if you buy an alcoholic beverage from a bar, they give it to you in a container and you are driving home with it in plain sight. A Pensacola Cop stops you for some other infraction, can they also charge you within city limits for having the drinks?

  12. Samuel R Stewart on June 26th, 2020 5:58 pm

    How is suspending alcohol sales supposed to help get this stuff under control. Some getting paid big money for there stupid ideas .

  13. Sherry Ewy on June 26th, 2020 4:18 pm

    This whole thing is just being handled in a bizarre fashion. Desantis is one odd duck.

  14. A. Alex on June 26th, 2020 3:30 pm

    WOW! are drunks dropping dead like flys in winter and people eating out is immune to the virus. just some thougts

  15. Hooray! on June 26th, 2020 1:19 pm

    The government is governing again!

    Unfortunately, it’s governing in a fly-by-seat-of-your-pants method that favors a group of constituents who function on propaganda and cult-beliefs, not on data and sound scientific principles. Totally unorganized, based upon self, rather than the whole.

    Our leaders wanted the economy opened, but then they bought into the yellow flag snake people’s mentality, fighting masking and distancing and denying biological facts.

    Any elected official who continues to deny the pandemic from this point forward needs to be removed from office in November for inept governance. You’re supposed to lead, not harm, all of your constituents (not just your base).

  16. BRING IT ON on June 26th, 2020 1:14 pm

    I learned real quick as a licensed contractor in Florida that the DBPR is just a bunch of pencil necks with a made up job.