South Florida’s bars will remain closed Monday while bars across the rest of the state begin opening back up.
Broward County late Friday announced it will keep its bars closed, just like Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, even though the state will allow bars across the rest of Florida to reopen at half-capacity.
The green light for Florida’s bars to reopen had come from Halsey Beshears, the head of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, on Thursday evening. The state plans to let bars reopen at 50% capacity starting Monday.
On Thursday, with COVID-19 counts declining, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he no longer sees much reason to keep bars closed, as long as customers are kept safe.
He noted that many bars already opened anyway after obtaining permits to serve food. Some bars in South Florida similarly have started serving food to reopen.
David Cardaci, owner of two popular downtown bars in Fort Lauderdale, The Wilder and Rhythm & Vine, wants the opportunity to show that he can open the right way.
“I think it’s time for bars, quite frankly every business, to open safely,” he said. “Give us guidelines and we will follow them, making sure that we keep our staff and customers safe.”
News this week that the 2020 Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show would be allowed to take place in seven weeks sent a mixed message, Cardaci said.
“Finding out that they allowed a large multiday event to take place in Fort Lauderdale while keeping small businesses closed was baffling to me. Not that the Boat Show shouldn’t take place, but that small businesses in the same market should be able to open as well,” he said.
Miami-Dade County doesn’t plan to add bars to its list of reopened business. “We are developing a plan for reopenings next week. Bars and nightclubs will not be permitted to open,” said Deputy Mayor Jennifer Moon.
And Palm Beach County’s bars also won’t be included, the county announced Friday.
Palm Beach County recently became the first county in the tri-county region to move into a Phase 2 of reopening, allowing gyms, fitness centers, museums, libraries and stores to start operating at full capacity.
Bowling alleys, movie theaters, skating centers, escape rooms and trampoline centers all were allowed to reopen at 50% capacity. And restaurants were permitted to have indoor seating at 50% of capacity but still were allowed full outdoor seating. Bar-top food service also has been allowed. Previously, restaurants were required to close from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m, but they now are allowed to stay open until midnight.
