Governor DeSantis Issues Emergency Order
to Extend State of Emergency for 60 Days
On Tuesday, April 27, 2021, Governor DeSantis issued Executive Order 21-94, which extended the state of emergency for COVID-19 for another 60 days.
The order contained one interesting area of note for our senior living communities. Part of the order states:
“As Florida continues to realize a manageable trend in COVID-19 cases, over 8.5 million vaccinated individuals, a 4.7% unemployment rate well under the national average, and state revenues improving significantly from worst-case projections during the pandemic, gaining $4.1 billion additional projected revenue over three fiscal years from the August 2020 estimate, the state should prepare to resume non-emergency operations.” (emphasis added)
Based on this statement, there is a possibility that that the Governor may lift the COVID-19 state of emergency order just before the 4th of July holiday weekend. Senior living communities may want to start thinking about how community operations would change should the state of emergency order be lifted.
Florida Senior Living Association will be closely monitoring the status of the emergency and working to ensure the regulatory agencies provide clear guidance regarding how the transition to “new normal” operations should be implemented once the emergency is lifted.