Florida announced a ban on local alcohol consumption in bars on Friday, just after the state Department of Health released daily coronavirus figures showing its count increased by nearly 9,000 cases, more than 3,400 cases from the previous daily increase.
The Florida alcohol regulatory agency announced on Twitter the ban on alcohol consumption in bars, saying: “Effective immediately, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending local alcohol consumption in bars across the state.”
The Florida Department of Health announced 8,942 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, beating the state’s previous daily record of 5,511 set Wednesday.
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Florida now has nearly 123,000 cases and nearly 3,400 coronavirus-related deaths.
Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a press conference on Friday that he doesn’t think enforcing the face mask rules helps.
“We have reported that that is something that could have an impact,” DeSantis said. “At the same time, doing the police and applying criminal penalties is likely to be counterproductive.”
DeSantis said the median demographic age that tested positive for COVID-19 “consistently is 33, 34, 35,” adding that if the median demographic is 33, then half of that demographic is younger.
“Community broadcasting is being driven by the 18-35 year old group,” he said, as this demographic was the first to return to social settings once restaurants and bars reopened.
Health officials have made it clear that people in older age groups are more likely to experience severe symptoms of the virus. But although young people are less likely to develop symptoms or die, they can still transfer the virus to others.
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“If infected, it will infect another person,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said Friday, speaking specifically with people under the age of 40, during the first White House Task Force press conference on the coronavirus since late April.
Vice President Pence, the leader of the task force, said he would travel to Florida next week to assess the situation on the ground.
Pence was asked if he sees a correlation with recent spikes in states like Florida, Texas and Arizona with his early reopening strategies.
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“I think there will be a temptation for people to see these Sunbelt states that have been reopening and putting people to work again and suggest that the reopening has to do with what we are seeing in the last week or so,” Pence said.
“But frankly, in the case of each of these states, they reopened, in some cases, almost two months ago.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
