Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a stay-at-home order for Florida this afternoon during a press conference. Executive Order 20-91 begins Friday at 12:01 a.m. and will be in effect for all Florida residents through the next 30 days.
The order states that all residents are to limit movement and social interactions outside of the home, except to obtain or provide essential services and activities.
“It makes sense to make this move now,” DeSantis said. “You just got to do what makes the most sense.”
According to the order, essential activities include “exercise, attending religious services, taking care of pets and caring for ‘a loved one or friend’”.
Businesses to be deemed essential in the order will be in accordance with recommendations made by the Department of Homeland Security. Services can be added accordingly in the coming days.
 Florida has continued to see a lot of traffic into the state and a rapid increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19.
This announcement comes after the White House announced a 30-day extension on mitigation guidelines nationwide earlier this week. The order was modeled after restrictions previously put into place in Southeast Florida.
“I think that given that we’re having a 30 day, I think that’s a signal from the president that ‘look, this is what we’re going to be fighting for a month,” DeSantis said. “There’s not going to be any kind of return to normalcy. People thought Easter and all that, that’s not going to happen.”