Broward County is urging everyone to stay at home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, but an order issued Thursday carries no penalties for people who don’t comply.
The “shelter-in-place policy” says county officials “strongly urge” all residents to stay home unless they are leaving to buy food, going to a job considered essential to the community or dealing with an emergency. It goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday.
County officials say the move is necessary to stem the rise in new cases in Broward County, one of the state’s hardest-hit counties with more than 500 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Already the county ordered a shutdown of non-essential businesses and nonprofits and asked workers do their jobs from home.
“This is something that can be uniform for our 31 municipalities,” Commissioner Michael Udine said. “Anything we can to do to flatten the curve … is imperative in my opinion.”
The step was not good enough for Fort Lauderdale, however.
Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said the county’s “order” is more of a request and doesn’t go far enough.
Trantalis noted that the county even makes an exemption for food trucks. They are allowed under the county’s order as long as no more than 10 people show up at one time.
Fort Lauderdale is drafting its own stay-at-home order that could be released as soon as Friday, Trantalis said.
“Watching what is going on in other cities around the country, Fort Lauderdale is not going to be the epicenter of this disease,” he said. “We are going to stop it in its tracks and save as many lives as possible.”
Fort Lauderdale’s stay-at-home order will be enforced “aggressively,” Trantalis said, although he declined to say whether violators would be stopped on the streets and fined.
“We’re still working on the enforcement provisions,” he said.
Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman said he’d like to see the city order include a curfew that would keep people off the streets between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
“It would give our first responders a break,” he said.
Like the mayor, Glassman referred to the county’s order as a recommendation.
“It sounds like what we already have in terms of urging people to stay at home,” he said. “I don’t think it has gone far enough.”
Broward County Administrator Bertha Henry, who issued the shelter-in-place order, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Her order came after County Commissioner Mark Bogen took to Twitter earlier Thursday to call for the action.
“We have a large senior population in Broward County,” he said. “We also have children who are testing positive for the coronavirus in Broward County. I’m asking for this to protect the health and welfare of all Broward residents.”
Bogen said 21 states, 37 counties and 16 cities in the United States are under stay-at-home orders and Florida is not one of them. The county declared a public health State of Emergency on March 10 and closed “non-essential” businesses.
“Staying at home will save lives,” Bogen said. “That’s all I care about.”
The stay-at-home order allows residents to leave their homes for grocery shopping, banking, doctor visits, exercise and trips to gas stations or car repair shops. Workers considered “essential” employees can report to work. Those businesses include medical providers, grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations, social services and many others.
Outdoor exercise is permitted as long as there’s “social distancing,” meaning people stay 6 feet apart. Day cares also are allowed to remain open, but there can’t be groups of more than 10 people.
Bogen said the order demonstrates leadership even if it doesn’t include penalties.
“All we can do is urge people to stay home or it’s never going to end,” Bogen said. “I think it’s necessary we be a leader and work to send a strong message to the community.”
On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he didn’t see the need to order Floridians to stay home, although several states have and some Florida leaders have requested it. He reasons that the pandemic is hitting different parts of the state differently and he thinks social distancing will help stem the rate of infections statewide.
Without a state order, communities are enacting their own orders, one by one at different times, making the fight against the pandemic inconsistent.
Miami Beach was the first city to enact a stay-at-home order on Monday. Dozens of other coastal cities followed suit.
Miami-Dade County issued an order Tuesday discouraging residents from gathering in groups of 10 or more in public spaces, including sidewalks, streets, government buildings or alleyways. At 4 p.m. Thursday, Miami-Dade issued an order similar to Broward’s that urges residents to stay home.
The governor on Tuesday asked people who are 65 and older and anyone with preexisting conditions to stay home for the next 14 days for their own safety.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4554
