ORLANDO, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday issued an executive order that requires all Floridians to stay at home as much as possible in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, which has already claimed dozens of lives in the Sunshine State.
If they aren’t already, residents should begin working from home and limit all contact with other people outside their home because COVID-19 is spread from person-to-person contact.
While nail salons and most retail stores have been forced to temporarily cease operations, there are some businesses that are considered essential and can keep their doors open as long as they follow social distancing guidelines.
The executive order goes by the Department of Homeland Security’s guidance on essential workers. That information, summarized from the department’s website, is outlined below:
- Healthcare and public health
- Hospital and laboratory personnel, caregivers, mental health workers, doctors, nurses, researchers, pharmacists, dentists, social workers, technicians, funeral home and cemetery workers.
- Law enforcement, public safety and first responders
- Police officers, firefighters, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians, 911 call center workers and those who oversee emergency service operations.
- Communications and information technology
- Technicians, operators, call centers, wireline and wireless providers, cable service providers, satellite operations, and manufacturers and distributors of communications equipment. Workers who support radio, television, and media service, including news reporters, weather forecasters, studio, and technicians for news gathering and reporting, data center operators, HVAC and electrical engineers, security personnel, IT managers, software and hardware engineers and database administrators.
- Chemical
- Workers at manufacturing plants, workers in laboratories, workers at distribution facilities, workers who transport basic raw chemical materials to the producers of industrial and consumer goods, including hand sanitizers, food and food additives, pharmaceuticals, textiles and paper products.
- Government facilities
- Election personnel, building employees, security staff, trade officials, custom workers and educators.
- Critical manufacturing
- Workers who manufacture materials and products for medical supply chains, transportation, energy, communications, food and agriculture, chemical manufacturing, nuclear facilities, dam operations, water and wastewater treatment and emergency services.
- Defense industrial base
- Workers who support the U.S. military, including aerospace, mechanical and software engineers, manufacturing/production workers, IT support, security staff, security personnel, intelligence support, aircraft and weapon systems mechanics and maintainers.
- Energy
- Utilities and telecommunications staffers, natural gas/propane workers, the electricity industry, engineers, cybersecurity/risk management staff and environmental remediation.
- Financial
- Bank employees and employees at other financial/lending institutions.
- Food and agriculture
- Grocery store employees, pharmacy worker, some restaurant workers, including delivery drivers, company cafeterias, animal agriculture workers, and the food and beverage industries, farmers, food processing workers, warehouse workers and food truck delivery drivers.
- Transportation systems
- Mass transit workers, auto repair and maintenance workers, trash collectors, postal and shipping workers, air traffic controllers, air transportation employees, dispatchers, maintenance and repair technicians, warehouse workers, truck stop and rest area workers, and workers who maintain and inspect infrastructure.
- Public Works
- Workers who inspect and maintain dams, locks, levees, bridges, sewer main breaks, traffic signals and buried/underground utilities.
- Water
- Employees needed to operate and maintain drinking water and wastewater/drainage infrastructure.
To read the full guidelines, click here.