One day after the rent was due, all evictions and foreclosures in Florida were suspended for 45 days under a statewide order issued Thursday. The measure is meant to help people remain in their homes at a time when people are supposed to stay inside to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Gov. Ron DeSantis issued the executive order Thursday afternoon to provide some relief for renters and homeowners in an economy battered by the global pandemic. The announcement coincided with soaring unemployment claims in Florida and across the U.S. Nationwide, at least 10 million are out of work. In Florida, 227,000 people have filed for unemployment.
As Florida began a month-long "stay-at-home" order, the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases surpassed 9,000 statewide Thursday evening, jumping by 1,235 from Wednesday. Results from recently increased testing suggest more widespread testing is needed to draw conclusions about how the virus is behaving in the South Florida community, according to experts.
The Florida Department of Health said 144 people have died from the virus that can cause severe respiratory illness. The death toll jumped by 43 new deaths Thursday, the single-largest increase in a day.
In Miami-Dade, nine more deaths brought the county's total to 20 -- an 81% increase from the day before. Health officials reported 2,886 confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday evening.
In Broward County, there were 1,481 cases as of Thursday night, and 17 deaths. In Palm Beach County, there were 737 confirmed cases, with 27 deaths, the most in the state.
There are 38 confirmed cases in Monroe County, according to the state. Late Thursday, the county's health department confirmed the first COVID-19 death in the Florida Keys. Officials did not name the 55-year-old man, who died at Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West.
The governor's order to stay at home left local governments across the state confused about how it applies to the vast patchwork of local restrictions implemented in recent weeks. Officials in South Florida were scrambling Thursday to try to make sense of the governor's order, which "shall supersede any conflicting action or order issued by local officials in response to COVID-19."
At a Thursday press conference, DeSantis sought to clear up the confusion when he said he "thought it was understood" that the state's order would serve only as a "baseline" for county and municipal governments. Those entities can go further, he said, as long as their measures don't conflict with the state's.
"If some folks want to do things more, then they can do more in certain situations," he said, noting, as he has repeatedly done while arguing against a statewide shutdown, that each region of the state is distinct. "We want to work with the local folks."
Ken Russell, a city commissioner in Miami, pointed to a section of the order that says senior citizens and people with significant underlying medical conditions "shall stay at home." The provision doesn't offer any exceptions for essential activities. Russell said city officials were seeking clarification from the state.
After the governor's press conference, State Rep. Michael Greico, a Democrat whose district includes Miami Beach, said local officials there were "more confused now than we were a few hours ago."
"My reading of the order is that local governments cannot be more restrictive than his order," he said. "Then he goes into the press conference and essentially says the exact opposite."
