Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Friday, directing all entertainment venues and beaches in Broward and Palm Beach Counties to close as the coronavirus continues to spread across Florida.
The order closes movie theaters, concert venues, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys, arcades, gyms, fitness studios in both counties. Closures will expire on March 31 but are subject to extensions.
The order also closes beaches in both counties until March 31. The closure comes as questions arise surrounding why the governor has decided not to issue a statewide shutdown of all beaches.
Restaurants, bars, clubs, night clubs, banquet halls, cabarets, breweries, cafeterias and any other venue that serves alcohol and or food with a seating capacity of more than 10 people have also been ordered to close.
Takeout and delivery, however, can continue for those businesses.
“These closures shall remain in effect in accordance with the President’s “15 Days to Slow the Spread,’” a statement read.
Today’s order comes as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep through Florida. Over the past 24 hours, Florida added another 104 positive COVID-19 cases to the official Florida Department of Health tracking website. While that’s slightly less from the 112 cases a day prior, it bumped the March projection down just slightly, to 14,400 cases.
As of Friday morning, we are awaiting the results of 1,126 COVID-19 tests.