Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Hints State Nearing Decision on Reopening Bars: ‘No Turning Back’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) indicated that the state is nearing a decision on reopening bars, which have been shuttered for months, stating during a Thursday roundtable discussion that officials “really want to get to ‘yes'” and that there should be “no turning back.”

“I want every business in Florida operating and we pretty much have 99 percent. You guys are kind of the last ones,” DeSantis said during a roundtable discussion in St. Petersburg alongside individuals in the bar and brewery industries.

“We really want to get to ’yes,’ so we’re working hard on it,” DeSantis said business owners assured him they would take necessary safety precautions.

“We’re going to do everything we possibly can to provide a safe environment so that people of any mindset are going to feel safe,” Khris Johnson of Green Bench Brewing said, according to WESH.

The governor emphasized that officials “have got to get it right” and that it has to stick.

“No turning back,” DeSantis said.

Bars were closed statewide again in June after Florida experienced a sharp spike in cases of the Chinese coronavirus, particularly in southeast Florida.

“Effective immediately, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation is suspending on-premises consumption of alcohol at bars statewide,” Halsey Beshears, the department secretary, announced late June.