Most Florida Bars Cleared To Reopen

TALLAHASSEE, FL — Florida's secretary of the Department of Business & Professional Regulation announced late Thursday he plans to allow bars in most parts of the state to reopen starting next week.

"Starting Monday, all bars will be reopened at 50 percent occupancy," tweeted Halsey Beshears, who issued the order in June that suspended all consumption of on-premises alcohol at bars statewide to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Beshears attended a restaurant industry roundtable with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in southwest Florida earlier on Thursday in which the governor hinted some sort of announcement was forthcoming.

"Obviously, we saw some outbreaks linked to bars in Florida, but my sense is that behavior probably would be happening in private residences if it wasn't there," the governor told reporters in Lee County.

DeSantis said bars that had been serving food prior to the closures on June 26 had no higher incidence of the coronavirus than restaurants serving alcohol.

"At the same time, we do want to see all those folks operate similar to how the restaurants have done, and done in a way to gain the confidence back, and then have the capacity to go forward," the governor said. "My goal is every Floridian should be able to go to work. Every business should be able to operate."

Two of Florida's hardest hit counties from the coronavirus — Miami-Dade and Broward — were still in phase one of their reopenings as of Thursday.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez told reporters Wednesday that he does not foresee opening Miami-area bars and nightclubs in the foreseeable future.

"Bars and nightclubs, the activities there are not conducive to maintaining a 6-foot separation," he said. "Those venues are really difficult. I don't foresee us opening bars and nightclubs here for the foreseeable future until we get a vaccine."