COVID-19 hotspots, Broward and Miami-Dade, can move on to Phase One
DORAL, Fla. - When Govenor Ron DeSantis first announced his phase one plans, it only applied to 64 Florida counties. On Monday, the southeast counties that were hit hard by the coronavirus can move to reopen too.
Last week, DeSantis announced Palm Beach County on Monday. On Thursday, he said Broward and Miami-Dade counties can follow suit.
"Those 64 counties have continued to do well," he said during a press conference from Doral, Florida. "Today, we take another step important step for a very important part of Florida."
His announcement was quickly met with whistles from those in attendance.
"It was a limited phase one," DeSantis said. "Miami and Broward will be in a similar vein with that. They've progressed nicely in terms of dealing with the pandemic. Even though they had to face the most serious epidemic in the state of Florida, they've flattened the curve."
He said both counties have submitted plans that he approved, but they won't follow the same approaches.
The governor said in an announcement in regards to phase two reopening plans will come Friday.
"We can't take our eye off the ball. The virus is still here," DeSantis expalined. "It doesn't seem to be generating as much cases in southeast Florida as it did before."
You can watch the governor's full press conference below with Miami-Dade and Broward county leaders:
If you feel sick:
The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.
LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website
CORONAVIRUS IN FLORIDA: What you need to know
AROUND THE WORLD: CoronavirusNOW.com
Map of known COVID-19 cases:
MOBILE APP USERS: Click here for map