STATEWIDE — Phase 1 of Florida's reopening is set to begin Monday with some restaurants and retail stores opening on a limited capacity. But what will Phase 2 entail and when will it start allowing for businesses like bars, gyms and salons to open?

Gov. Ron DeSantis' "Re-open Florida Task Force" is recommending bars, nightclubs and other businesses could reopen under Phase 2. Click here to see the complete three phases of the state’s reopening.


Charter Communications has temporarily opened its live stream free to the public. You can watch Spectrum News via our live stream on your desktop or laptop without a subscription by visiting our website and clicking “Watch Live” in the upper right. Charter also is temporarily offering free broadband and wifi access for 60 days to teachers and families with K-12 or college students. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395. The company also will open more than half a million wifi hotspots across the country.


Those businesses, which have been closed since the April 3 statewide shutdown, would be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity.

Gyms would be allowed to open up at 75 percent capacity.

Then restaurants, under Phase 2, could also bump up to a 75 percent capacity. That would be followed by salons and barber shops being allowed to open with limitations.

The big question is when will Phase 2 start? The governor emphasized the importance of continuing social distancing and wearing face masks.

He said he does not expect it to take months to fully reopen the state; he is thinking it will be measured in weeks.

DeSantis said in order to move through each phase, testing will be key, and he will be keeping a close eye on the state's COVID-19 test positivity rate.

Sign up now for one of our newsletters that will show up in your inbox every weekday at 1 p.m. The newsletters highlight the most important stories of the day that you need to know for your area.

Spectrum News 13 newsletter

Spectrum Bay News 9 newsletter