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Violation of the Governor’s statewide safer at home order comes with a second degree misdemeanor charge, but many are having trouble understanding what is and is not allowed.

The Governor has provided some clarity, but Florida Democrats say it’s not enough.

Two seemingly conflicting executive orders issued hours apart called into question whether local governments could enforce tighter restrictions than the statewide safer at home order.

Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, a Democrat, said it caused major confusion.

“What it’s doing is forcing counties and cities and individuals to self interpret, which is going to make it nearly impossible for law enforcement or any type of enforcement of this order,” said Fried.

Governor Ron DeSantis said his executive order is only a floor.

“Each region in Florida is very distinct and some of these things may need to be approached a little bit differently,” said DeSantis.

But there are some things local governments can’t do, like ban religious services.

“The Constitution doesn’t get suspended here,” said DeSantis.

However they can require religious gatherings to adhere to local social distancing guidelines.

“There’s no reason why you couldn’t do a church service with people ten feet apart,” said DeSantis.

The Governor released a fact sheet Friday night, providing answers to many of the commonly asked questions about the safer at home order.

But Democrats argue despite the clarification offered, the broad 19-page list of essential services offers too many loopholes and should be narrowed.

“Because if we are actually going to beat this virus we’ve got to be in this together and we’ve got to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to stop the spread,” said Fried.

The safer at home order is set to expire April 30th, but it could be extended or amended anytime before then.

To find the list of commonly asked questions offered by the Governor, visit flgov.com.

Hurricane season is now less than two months away, and Jared Moskowitz, the state’s emergency management director, already engaged in fighting COVID-19 is now planning for the possibility of a hurricane while the coronavirus is still a factor.

“We’ve got to have plans that potentially we could have a hurricane and be dealing with evacuations and shelter procedures, still with COVID-19,” said Moskowitz. “So, how do we evacuate? How do I evacuate people that might be COVID-19 positive? What do we do with our hospitals? How do we do a decompression plan there with people who might be in the hospital still with COVID-19? Are we using schools for shelters? How are we doing that? How are we separating populations?”

While planning for the worst, Moskowitz said most models show the coronavirus subsiding by the peak of hurricane season.

Governor Ron DeSantis calls fixing the website for people to apply for unemployment is his number one priority right now and is throwing people, money and old and new technology at the problem.

Since the COVID-19 crisis hit, 396,000 people have filed for unemployment.

Compare that to just under 308,000 claims filed in all of 2019.

The agency also took over two million calls in the last three weeks.

“I think this requires all hands on deck,” said DeSantis.

Up to 200 state employees from other agencies are being reassigned to help answer phones and process claims.

“We are working right now to identify who those people are and we are going to begin training them next week across the state. In addition, he has provide us the ability to take paper applications, so we are going to be posting that later today, so individuals can print the application, fill it out, and mail it back to us,” said Department of Economic Opportunity Communications Director Tiffany Vause.

A new mobile app to help people file for unemployment could be available as early as this weekend or as late as Tuesday.

And the $77 million computerized claim system that has had problems since it was built in 2013 is getting a makeover.

“I think that will take about two weeks for us to get the folks on staff and get them going, but we are working on some interim solutions,” said Vause.

The Governor’s message: Spare no cost.

“I wish I could say this is something that will last just a couple weeks, but I think this is not something that you can just turn on and off an economy like this,” said DeSantis.

And as the claims mount, the Governor has also suspended all evictions and foreclosures for the next 45 days.

Paper applications for download will be available online at Floridajobs.org and CareerSourceFlorida.com by the end of the day Friday.

Florida has gotten very few of the millions of N95 protective masks that it has ordered.

On national television, Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz has called it criminal.

The Governor himself has called the arrangement of brokers and dealers “shady as hell”.

“I can tell you I’ve probably signed a half a billion dollars worth or PO’s and I fell like all I purchased was air. Because these things just don’t exist. There’s something really wrong in the market. Something’s broken. I don’t know if its brokers, distributors, I can’t tell you, that will be up to somebody when this is over to investigate,” said Moskowitz.

Moskowitz said only about five percent of the ten million masks he has ordered have been delivered.

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, but we’re starting to see examples of businesses stepping up to the plate to lend a helping hand.

Mac Shack owner Justo Cruz said the transition to take out orders has been a struggle.

“Ten to twelve percent of a normal restaurant’s revenue and we’re now trying to make that our 90 percent, which is extremely tough,” said Cruz.

But Mac Shack has help keeping the lights on thanks to a cheese and jalapeño filled sausage product it produces with Register’s Meat Company.

“Our sales have been crazy high with all the people that are shopping in grocery stores and on the other side our friends in the restaurant business, man they have just been struggling for conditions outside of what they can do,” said Register’s Meat Company Owner Ben Kaempfer.

Now, hoping to lend a helping hand to struggling panhandle restaurants the two companies are distributing hundreds of pounds of their sausages free of charge.

They’re calling it the ‘Sausage Stimulus’.

“You don’t have to be a large corporation or have multiple businesses to give something back to the community and this is one way we’re doing that,” said Cruz.

Mac Shack and Register’s Meat Company are only asking the restaurants to feature their product in a dish to receive the free product.

They’re also helping promote the restaurants through their own social media.

The business owners and some state officials hope creative ideas like the Sausage Stimulus will spread across the state.

“Everybody needs to take their part in helping their neighbor, helping their local restaurants,” said Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried.

And Commissioner Fried said keeping restaurants open will play a crucial role in restarting the economy.

“That’s where all of our tourism dollars come, when people come and travel our state eating at these local establishments,” said Fried.

Partnerships like the Sausage Stimulus can be beneficial to both the recipient and the donors.

Helping keep restaurants open means distributors won’t lose their customers when the pandemic slows.

Governor Ron DeSantis’ safer at home order takes effect at midnight Friday and while it directs most Floridians to stay inside, there are some notable exceptions.

One includes attendance of religious services.

Governor Ron DeSantis, a devout Catholic, keeps a bottle of holy water on his desk.

It was there when he announced the statewide safer at home order.

“You know at this point, I think even though there’s a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now,” said DeSantis.

Reverend Joseph Parramore of New Journey Ministries said prayer is essential for many in these trying times.

“It’s our faith, it’s our hope, it’s our belief in a greater good,” said Parramore.

But that doesn’t mean he’ll be filling the pews anytime soon.

“We’re not doing services and have not been doing services, nor have any of our affiliates been doing services,” said Parramore.

Strict measures in Tampa led to the arrest of a pastor who ignored the local restrictions by holding a large service this past Sunday.

Those local ordinances won’t be impacted by the Governor’s executive order.

And while churches will still have the option of meeting in person, Reverend Parramore recommends they consider alternatives.

“Life is more important than the risk of exposing anyone to COVID-19,” said Parramore.

The Catholic Church, which makes up 26 percent of the state’s population, suspended in-person services as early as March 20th opting to conduct mass online.

And under the executive order those churches holding in-person services would still need to comply with CDC guidelines.

Guns purchases in Florida peaked in the middle of the month as the coronavirus fears gained momentum, and more guns were sold in March than any March in the last decade.

Dallas, who didn’t want to give us her last name is a first time gun buyer.

“I believe in the second amendment, and the right to protect yourself,” said Dallas.

And while she says it isn’t all about the virus.

“It is another factor that makes me think should I be prepared if someone were to come and infringe on my rights,” said Dallas.

Sales at Kevin’s in the state’s capital peaked in mid March and have been steady since.

It’s a lot of first time buyers. People just wanting to protect themselves I think. They don’t know the outcome that lives in the future and just trying to get ahead of things. Supplies are drying up a little bit,” said Brandon Long, the gun manager at Kevin’s.

Bill and Jeanette Busby aren’t first time buyers, nor are they preppers.

“We’re going to go to the range and practice, and give her a little safety with it. But we’re not real big in guns,” said Bill.

“I think its time, and I need to get in there and learn how,” said Jeanette.

And it’s not just guns.

Ammunition is flying off the shelves.

Two men who wished to remain anonymous told us they live in a remote area and were stocking up on ammo just in case they had to start hunting for meat.

“I guess you see it happening in the grocery stores , stuff is disappearing and supplies disappearing, and people think the same thing is going to happen with ammo and guns,” said Long.

Marion Hammer with the NRA is not doing in person interviews but explained in a statement, “Firearm sales go up in times of uncertainty because Americans know their safety is ultimately in their own hands”.

The Governor says the number one logistical challenge facing the state is getting enough N-95 protective masks.

Millions have been ordered with delivery set, only to find the masks went elsewhere.

The Governor banned elective surgeries to free hospital beds and protective equipment, but on Tuesday, the state’s emergency management director tweeted to the mask making company 3M, asking them to avoid middlemen distributors and ship masks directly to hospitals, first responders or the state.

“There’ll be shipments of masks coming in and you go to get them (I’m not going to get them), but I mean people, they’re not there. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the market right now. I can’t tell you what exactly, but its not a normal situation,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Getting the masks are a continuing logistical challenge.

Some have likened it to a Ponzi scheme, with brokers and distributors selling masks to the highest bidder.

DeSantis was hesitant to call it criminal.

“Look, I don’t want to say that it is because I don’t have first hand knowledge, but I can tell you that it’s shady as hell, that’s for sure,” said DeSantis.

The Governor believes if the staff of a Broward nursing home had been wearing the masks, deaths could have been prevented.

“Obviously hurts the health care workers for sure. Some of the staff and workers were infected, and they were sick and they shouldn’t have been allowed to go in there. Having a mask on I think would be something that potentially ward off infections for our most vulnerable,” said DeSantis.

Mask maker 3M says it’s doubled its manufacturing capacity.

It’s now producing 100 million masks a month, meaning there shouldn’t be a shortage.

The inability to get certainty in the shipment of masks is pitting Governors against Governors trying to protect their states.

On Tuesday, the President said during his briefing that Governors should come to him for logistical and supply support.

Governor DeSantis talked to President Trump Wednesday morning, but we don’t know if the issue was discussed.

A statewide stay at home order issued by the Governor will go into effect at Midnight Friday April 3rd.

The order will remain in effect for 30 days.

“You can engage in essential services, essential activities, but other than that you need to stick close to home,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

Floridians will still be able to take care of pets, grocery shop, pick up food and seek medical services.

The announcement comes after the US Surgeon General said the policy should be implemented nationwide and nearly two weeks of Florida Democrats demanding the policy.

DeSantis said he’s been considering it for days and acted after the President extended national guidelines for 30 days.

“People aren’t just going to go back to work. That’s a national pause button,” said DeSantis.

Democrats like Miami State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez hope it isn’t too little too late.

“Based on all the evidence that I’ve seen, I am not an expert I have to rely on those public health experts, those medical professionals, we are at the moment where it’s almost too late, but it’s not too late,” said Rodriguez.

The Governor has long publicly questioned the effectiveness of a statewide stay at home order, and continues to do so, especially for a prolonged period of time.

And he also hopes some nonessential businesses will be able to remain open.

“They’re not going to have people be able to congregate inside their businesses, but what they can do is you know they can do delivery or things like that, maybe if they make things,” said DeSantis.

The Governor says the statewide order will be enforced the same way as previous mitigations he’s put in place, which means it will come down to local law enforcement.

A list of essential businesses can be found at floridadisaster.org.

Universities around the state are responding differently to the coronavirus, with some universities sending students living on campus home, while others are allowing some to stay through the end of the semester.

All of them are looking at ways to refund students for meal plans and housing if they are unable to return to campus.

At Florida State University and at nearby FAMU, campuses are essentially barren with the exception of a few maintenance workers.

FSU has asked all students living on campus not to return if they’ve traveled out of the city, like freshmen Sara Kissane, now staying with her parents in Jacksonville.

“I think that a lot of people are just kind of, not really blindsided, but just kind of upset that the year was cut off so short. Like for me and my roommate we didn’t even know it was our last night in our dorms when it was,” said Kissane.

FAMU has ordered all students to leave on campus housing by April 6th.

Both universities are offering refunds for students unable to return to the dorms for their housing and meal plans.

“So I think by at least reimbursing the dorm and the food that makes up for not being there and not utilizing those facilities, because you’re still doing classes online so the tuition still makes sense,” said Kissane.

But some students remain living on campus, unable to return home like Giulia Grasso who is an international student from Italy.

“That’s a pretty bad situation there so I can’t come back home because like basically the borders from the US to Italy are closed,” said Grasso.

Most of the state’s universities have opted to allow students to receive a satisfactory or unsatisfactory grade for classes during the spring semester.

The announcements came after tens of thousands of students signed online petitions calling for the option.

FSU and FAMU have also both started funds to help keep food banks stocked, pay for students’ medical bills and provide housing assistance.

The state continues to get hit with a daily avalanche of new unemployment claims.

The agency in charge of handling unemployment reports improvements to speed applications are being made daily and a new mobile app will soon launch as the Governor continues to waive requirements.

The state had 74,313 people apply for unemployment the week of March 21.

Last week they tripled to just over 222,000.

Sunday alone 21,000 people filed.

“Our system was designed to help our state during a hurricane, but not during a global pandemic,” said Ken Lawson, Executive of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Chery Regha and Lana Stokley, newly unemployed and frustrated at the inability to file online, showed up at the agency’s headquarters Tuesday morning.

“Because we are completely out of funds. I mean, we are fixing to be in trouble,” said Regha.

“There so many people that’s trying to get through the website, it’s very difficult to get through,” said Stokley.

It didn’t help.

The building is closed to the public and all claims must be filed online.

But help is coming.

70 of 100 new positions authorized by the Governor have been filled.

Lawson said that is just the beginning.

“We’ve hired an outside call center that will staff up to two hundred fifty people to handle uploads of calls. Also, I have my IT team work night and day to increase capacity. So when people apply online, there’s more capacity and bandwidth. Also, I reprogrammed people from my own shop to work with these issues,” said Lawson.

State law now requires you to be out of work for a week before you can apply for reemployment assistance.

The Governor waived that requirement Tuesday.

And we were told the contract to build a mobile app to speed the applications process would be signed by the close of business Tuesday.

First implemented in 2014, the computerized application system has had problems since the beginning.

Lawson said he plans to make recommendations about what to do about it, but not until the current crisis is over.

The state’s own report shows it has the lowest number of state employees per capital than any other state, and only half the national average. In good times its been a point of pride, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, right now it’s contributing to a shortage of  people during this time of crisis.

A checkpoint on I-10 in Pensacola is stopping motorists from Louisiana. They are being told to self isolate for fourteen days. Stephanie Kopelousos from the Office of the Governor, says trucks won’t be affected.

“Commercial traffic will remain going straight on the Interstate, I-10.”

Another checkpoint north of Jacksonville is checking for motorists from the Northeast. The goal says the Governor, is to stop drivers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.”

‘What we don’t want is for people to flee that hot zone and bring the virus here” says Governor Ron DeSantis.

It follows orders last week to screen flyers on direct flights arriving from the tri state northeast. They are being handed literature like this and undergo a series of questions.

But other highways into Florida and smaller airports with connecting flights from the northeast are going unmonitored. When asked, the Governor agreed it isn’t ideal.

“Hey look, I think its a problem, but if they can help us with that, the airports, and working with the airlines, I think its in everybody’s interest” DeSantis told us.

Part of the problem is a shortage of state employees.  The state’s own report shows it has the lowest number of per capita employees of any state in the country.

Florida has 86 full time employees for every ten thousand residents. The national average is 168…or almost twice as many.

Monday, the Governor signed an executive order allowing retired law enforcement to come back to work without sitting out six months. It was broadcast on the Governor’s Facebook page.

“I will suspend that prohibition. We need to have folks who are willing to return to service.”

But the problem is just law-enforcement, but unemployment, health and other critical 

The Governor is also urging residents in South Florida to be “Safer at Home” telling them to shelter in place through mid May in four south Florida counties.

Small business would be able to rehire their employees for up to 10 weeks under the federal stimulus at not cost to the business.

Under the Federal stimulus, small businesses will be able to borrow up to $10 million.

It will allow 10 weeks of salaries, rent, utilities, and mortgage payments to be forgiven from the loan.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association believes it’s the only way many of their members will survive.

“So, this is going to be a huge way to put our industry back on the map again. Get people back employed, and get back up and running, hopefully very soon,” said CEO of the association Carol Dover.

But employees can’t have it both ways.

“So if you are going to apply for unemployment, then you are not eligible for this loan,” said Dover.

The stimulus is likely to put one million already unemployed hospitality workers back on the payroll, taking some of the burden off an over burdened unemployment filing system.

Even with the stimulus, the association said some restaurants won’t survive.

“Businesses, many of them will not rebound. Some won’t rebound now, which is very unfortunate. But I think is this goes past June, you will see many of Florida’s small business rebound,” said Dover.

Small businesses are being told to check with their local bank to begin the loan process.

The federal stimulus interest free loan is available to businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

When it comes to restaurant franchise locations, each franchise can have up to 500 workers.

The legislation also requires restaurants and lodging establishments to keep their employees on the payroll until the end of June to have that money forgiven.

Statistics released Friday show Florida’s unemployment rate held steady at 2.8 percent in February.

While the state would normally be celebrating a second month of record low unemployment, the impact of the coronavirus isn’t reflected in the February stats.

“Everything that we’re doing to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 is having an impact on businesses,” said Ken Lawson, Executive Director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

The state is seeing tens of thousands of new unemployment claims every week.

130,000 this past week alone.

The state will get a better picture of the true impact of coronavirus on the state’s employment rates when the March figures are released in late April, but the Governor is already looking ahead.

“What does the next part of the strategy look like? I think that will be very important for these unemployment numbers,” said Governor Ron DeSantis.

And the Governor opined on a possible asset awaiting his signature.

“E-Verify and workforce verification, that could actually be something that’s more important now given that people are going to be needing jobs,” said DeSantis.

The E-Verify legislation would require all new hires have their immigration status checked through the federal system starting January 1st of next year.

E-Verify could mean more job opportunities for Florida citizens, but it’s estimated between four and five percent of the state’s total workforce are undocumented immigrants.

“Now everybody is going to be a newly hired employee. So everybody is going to be impacted by E-Verify,” said Kara Gross with the Florida chapter of the ACLU.

Gross worries leaving as many as 550,000 undocumented workers permanently unemployable all at once could be a disaster within itself.

“Everybody who knows E-Verify understands that it’s harmful to Florida’s economy. Why would we be doing anything right now that is more harmful to Florida’s economy when we’re under these conditions?” said Gross.

She’s also concerned it could slow hiring for citizens as well.

“Businesses, when they’re rehiring workers, they need to have the flexibility to increase their workforce immediately and this is going to create more and more obstacles for everybody,” said Gross.

Employers can opt to keep I-9 forms of new hires on file, in lieu of using the federal system, but those records could be requested for verification at any time by the Attorney General, FDLE, a state attorney or statewide prosecutor.

Governor Ron DeSantis is putting legislation passed in the 2020 session on hold as he waits to see the full economic impacts of the coronavirus.

Teacher pay raises are among the proposals that could hang in the balance.

Florida lawmakers passed 210 bills during the 2020 session, but only a handful have actually made it to the Governor, who has asked the Legislature to hold them.

His focus is elsewhere.

“My office has been 24/7 on COVID-19,” said DeSantis.

And his schedule shows, every item on his agenda has been coronavirus related.

If the Legislature were to send him bills, he’d have 15 days to veto, sign or let them become law.

“I think it would probably not be a good use of my time to be going through a lot of the legislation right now,” said DeSantis.

There’s also the question of how badly the economy will be hit.

That puts almost everything in question, including a proposed $500 million allocation for teacher pay raises.

“We’re a significant part of that budget this year,” said Florida Education Association President, Fedrick Ingram.

Ingram hopes the Governor considers the role teachers are playing throughout the outbreak, including their shift to online learning.

“I think if you put out any survey parents will tell you that teachers are first responders. They’re educational first responders,” said Ingram.

The Governor did say he doesn’t want to jeopardize teacher pay, but also doesn’t want to act hastily during these uncertain times.

“That would not be where I would want to go, but look I think the budget is in flux let’s just put it that way,” said DeSantis. “So I’m not going to go do a signing ceremony tomorrow about any of this stuff until we kind of get our feet under us a little bit more.”

If signed, the pay raises would take effect July 1st.

$400 million for raising base teacher pay and another $100 million for veteran teachers and other school staff.

Along with putting legislation on hold, the Governor has also chosen to delay the appointment of two Supreme Court Justices.

They were required to be selected by March 23rd.