Florida has now officially reopened with most coronavirus restrictions being lifted as of today as about half of all US states partially reopen their economies after the lockdown.
As part of the reopening in Florida, which has seen 1,300 deaths and 36,000 infections among its 21.5 million residents, retailers and restaurants across much of the state can open their doors from today at a 25 percent capacity.
While some beaches across parts of the state were allowed to reopen last month, Clearwater Beach officially reopened to the public before sunrise Monday morning.
Police removed ‘closed’ signs from barricades at 7am to the cheers of the 50 or so people waiting to step on the freshly groomed sand. Clearwater police have a large presence patrolling the beach and are urging people to socially distance.
Cafes along the beach also reopened with eateries allowed to resume dine-in services if they have outdoor seating and can ensure appropriate social distancing.
Cones are set up to help beachgoers keep a safe distance from one another after Clearwater Beach in Florida after the beach officially reopened on Monday amid the coronavirus pandmeic
Cafes along the beach also reopened with eateries allowed to resume dine-in services if they have outdoor seating and can ensure appropriate social distancing
While some beaches across parts of the state were allowed to reopen last month, Clearwater Beach officially reopened to the public before sunrise Monday morning
Medical practices can also resume elective surgeries and procedures as part of the state’s phased reopening.
Movie theaters, bars and fitness clubs will remain closed for now.
Governor Rick DeSantis has left existing restrictions in place across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties – the three most highly populated in the state.
DeSantis had drawn criticism for waiting until April 2 to clamp down on commerce – after most other states had already done so – in part because of Florida’s high proportion of elderly residents – more than a fifth are age 65 and over – who are especially vulnerable to the virus.
But Florida, a key swing electoral swing state, appears to have avoided the worst of the health crisis seen in other states such as New York and New Jersey.
The highest daily number of infections occurred on April 17 with just over 1,400 new cases. New daily infections have been considerably lower since then and only increased above 1,000 on April 23 and May 1.
The highest daily deaths occurred on April 28 with 83 deaths and fatalities appear to be on the decline since then.
The number of US cases has now topped 1.1 million and the death toll has increased to more than 68,500.
Clearwater police have a large presence patrolling the beach and are urging people to socially distance
Police removed ‘closed’ signs from barricades at 7am to the cheers of the 50 or so people waiting to step on the freshly groomed sand
Beachgoers set up their chairs first thing Monday after the beach reopened to the public
Beachgoers walk on Clearwater Beach after it was officially reopened to the public on Monday morning
As part of the reopening in Florida, which has seen 1,300 deaths and 36,000 infections among its 21.5 million residents, retailers and restaurants across much of the state can open their doors from today at a 25 percent capacity
States, mostly in the South, the Midwest and mountain West, have moved to relax restrictions since Georgia led the way last month.
Georgia took another step toward a full restart by allowing all businesses to reopen from Friday. Large crowds of people were seen in Atlanta on Sunday as shelter-in-place orders expired and businesses reopened.
Health experts are now concerned that warmer weather could prove to be challenging to manage coronavirus as restaurants, hair salons and other businesses reopen across the country.
On Saturday, thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington to view a US Navy flyover to honor healthcare workers and others battling the pandemic.
In New York City, the warmest weather yet this spring caused picnickers and sunbathers to flock to green spaces in Manhattan, including crowded conditions at the Christopher Street Pier in Greenwich Village.
Last week, California ordered beaches in Orange County to close, after crowds defied public health guidelines to throng the popular shoreline. Police in the county’s Huntington Beach said people were complying on Sunday.
Dr Deborah Birx, coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, said on Fox News Sunday that massing on beaches was not safe unless people kept at least six feet apart.
Georgia took another step toward a full restart by allowing all businesses to reopen from Friday. Large crowds were spotted in Atlanta on Sunday after restrictions were lifted
Large crowds of people were seen in Atlanta on Sunday as Georgia Governor Brian Kemp allowed shelter-in-place orders to expire
She also weighed in against allowing such businesses as beauty salons and spas to reopen in the first phase.
‘We’ve made it clear that that is not a good phase one activity,’ she said.
She said that rrotesters gathering, as they did last week in Michigan and other parts of the country to demonstrate against stay-at-home restrictions, posed a huge risk.
‘It’s devastatingly worrisome to me personally if they go home and infect their grandmother or their grandfather who has a comorbid condition and they have a serious or a very – or an unfortunate outcome, they will feel guilty for the rest of our lives,’ Birx said.
Scott Gottlieb, a former FDA commissioner, said on Sunday the country was seeing a ‘mixed bag’ of results from coronavirus mitigation efforts.
He said there were about 20 states seeing a rising number of new cases including Illinois, Texas, Maryland, Indiana, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Virginia reported a record number of deaths on Sunday.
‘We expected that we would start seeing more significant declines in new cases and deaths around the nation at this point. And we’re just not seeing that,’ he said on CBS’ Face the Nation.
‘If we don’t snuff this out more and you have this slow burn of infection, it can ignite at any time.’
