Today, at last, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued a statewide stay-at-home order in connection with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which is still spreading rapidly in the state. The order, which takes effect on April 3 at 12:01 a.m. and runs through April 30, requires Floridians to:
limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities.
Here’s what the order says are “essential activities” for this purpose:
- attending religious services [a really bad idea IMO];
- recreational activities “(consistent with social distancing guidelines) such as walking, biking, hiking, fishing, hunting, running, or swimming”;
- taking care of pets; and
- caring for or otherwise assisting a loved one or friend.
There seems to be no mention of shopping for food or meds, but you'd think that has to be included in “essential activities.” Other social gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited “in a public space,” so that presumably places some conditions on the listed “recreational activities.” However, that also seems to permit private social gatherings of more than 10 people, again a really bad idea.
Also, the order breaks out seniors and those with “significant underlying medical conditions,” and says they “shall stay at home,” with no mention of an “essential activities” exception for them. I don’t think the state seriously could order seniors not to go out to purchase their food and medicine; rather, I think the provision is a result of poor drafting and cutting and pasting from previous, more limited, orders, but that is just my lay opinion.
“Essential services” is a long list and includes many industries we might expect, such as healthcare, defense, financial, telecom, energy, transportation, government and elections, food and agriculture, and more. It probably would have made sense to include a short list of the types of businesses that are not considered essential. Additionally, while the order encourages workers to stay at home, the attached federal guidelines indicate:
When continuous remote work is not possible, businesses should enlist strategies to reduce the likelihood of spreading the disease. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, separating staff by off-setting shift hours or days and/or social distancing.
As my title indicates, I think this order comes dangerously late. Many Floridians, including me, have been calling upon DeSantis for some time to do more. Until now, he has issued piecemeal orders addressing things like vacation rentals and self-quarantines for visitors from some states. Yesterday, 13 lawmakers from Florida sent DeSantis a letter asking him to issue a statewide stay-at-home order. DeSantis appeared to have been reluctant to go beyond what Donald Trump has done, which is not much.
I also think the order will raise a lot of specific questions from consumers and business owners, and hopefully someone at the Governor’s office will be able to answer them. Nevertheless, the one way that the order may help is that it might get some Floridians who have not been taking Coronavirus seriously to do so.