Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) approved the request for Miami-Dade and Broward counties to reopen at a press conference in Doral on Thursday.

“Today, we take another important step for a very important part of the state of Florida. Some of our absolute best economic engines are in communities throughout South Florida,” the governor said according to WSVN.

Both counties had been waiting for a response as officials prepared guidelines for reopening as soon as Monday, the report noted.

DeSantis continued:

And so we have been consulting with Mayor Gimenez here in Miami-Dade, Mayor Dale Holness in Broward, the administrators in both counties and other local officials to plot a way forward. And so today, I’ll be signing, or I have signed, an executive order that grants the request from both Miami-Dade and Broward to move them into phase one of the reopening for the state of Florida.

Wednesday, Miami-Dade released a draft of its reopening guidelines that included rules for hotels, restaurants, retailers, and personal grooming businesses.

“Under Mayor Carlos Gimenez’s plan, restaurants would operate at no more than 50% capacity. Miami-Dade beaches, hotels, bars, nightclubs, concert venues and movie theaters would remain closed in the initial reopening phase,” the WSVN report noted.

May 1, DeSantis pushed back against the media’s claim that Florida would be the “next New York” regarding the coronavirus pandemic, according to Breitbart News.

“We need to focus on facts and not fear. I think that there’s been a lot that’s been done to try to promote fear,” the governor explained.

“They said Florida was going to be just like New York or an ‘Uber Italy’ when it came to hospitalizations and fatalities. This was wrong. It’s time to focus on the facts and follow a safe, smart and step-by-step plan for recovery,” he continued.

May 4, DeSantis suggested members of the news media should apologize to mayors in Duval County for criticizing their decisions to reopen some beaches in April even with social distancing rules in place, Breitbart News reported.

“I think apologies can be sent to the city of Jacksonville attention Mayor [Lenny] Curry. You may want to CC the mayors of Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Atlantic Beach. But I won’t hold my breath on that happening,” he concluded.