Business groups in Florida have expressed strong support for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decision to begin reopening the state’s economy on Monday in all counties except for Miami, Broward and Palm Beach.
The governor announced his plan for the first phase of the reboot of Florida’s economy on Thursday, emphasizing that all restaurants (bars excluded) and retail establishments could open at 25 percent of their indoor capacity while following social-distancing guidelines outlined by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In addition, elective surgeries will be allowed again, but personal-services businesses, such as hair salons, will remain closed for the time being, DeSantis said. Visitation limitations for nursing homes will also remain in effect due to the high-risk populations they serve, and movie theaters will remain shuttered for now.
Walter Carpenter, chairman of the National Federation of Independent Business Florida Leadership Council and a member of the governor’s task force on reopening the economy, said that recommendations of the task force were manifested in DeSantis’ decisions this past week.
“I think he’s going to watch how things proceed here, especially over the next week or two, both with the numbers in Florida as well as these other states that have allowed some of those (personal) services to open immediately,” Carpenter told the Florida Record.
He hopes businesses such as salons and barber shops will be able to reopen sooner than later, adding that doctors’ offices continue to have patients coming in for appointments and that similar precautions can be taken by personal-services firms.
“Just like all of us individually, they haven’t been sitting there in a vacuum,” Carpenter said. “... They’ve been thinking about how they will operate in their individual environment given the CDC requirements right now.”
Excluding the three populous southeastern counties for now was a prudent move, he said, since these were the hot spots in the state for coronavirus cases.
“Based on all the information I’ve been reading as well as my participation on the task force, that certainly makes sense,” Carpenter said.
In keeping movie theaters closed for the time being, the governor seemed to be making a distinction between situations when the public is in a closed environment versus other types of businesses with open areas and open-air ventilation, he said. DeSantis took a more guarded approach in regard to closed environments, according to Carpenter.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce was bullish on the governor’s reopening plans, with the chamber president and CEO, Mark Wilson, saying DeSantis’ blueprint will give the state the opportunity to show it is a world leader in innovation and safety.
“With 96 percent of Florida chamber members supporting a phased-in reopening of our economy, Gov. DeSantis’ plan is exactly the right type of measured approach Florida needs to regain the economic footing of the world’s 17th largest economy,” Wilson said in a prepared statement. “It became clear that his plan is a combination of what the medical doctors are saying along with what local businesses need to safely restart our economy, one community at a time.”
Steve Bahmer, the president and CEO of Leading Edge Florida, whose members provide care and services to senior populations, also served on the governor’s reopening task force.
“The task force process was pretty compact,” Bahmer told the Record. “We had about a week to get a lot of work done.”
DeSantis’ decision to keep in place limitations on visits to long-term care facilities was important, according to Bahmer, since asymptomatic carriers of the virus can continue to infect elderly residents.
“People and families struggle from not being able to see their loved ones,” he said. “But these folks are the highest-risk populations.”
The sooner the state can get small businesses that provide personal services back open, the better, according to Bahmer.
“The backbone of the economy nationally and at the state level is small business,” he said, adding that those firms will be allowed to continue selling products using curbside deliveries. “... But this is a part of a reasoned, methodical approach the governor is taking.”
From the perspective of long-term care facilities, it makes sense to proceed slowly in the southeastern counties, according to Bahmer, who said he would defer to local authorities when it comes to reopening enterprises in those regions.
“We’re slowly reopening the economy,” he said. “These are excellent steps at getting Florida reopened.”