You Can Officially Go To The Bars In Florida This Weekend & Here's What You Can Expect

No more solo drinking. On Wednesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that bars in Florida could reopen effective June 5. The decision is a part of his Phase 2 plan to open the state.

"One of the big differences is the bars," DeSantis said during the press briefing where he compared the White House's phase two reopening plan to Florida.

"In our phase 2, we will be going with bars being able to operate consistent with this guidance."

Under the Plan For Florida's Recovery, pubs and other watering holes have gotten the state's blessing to serve patrons as long as they follow the proper protocols.

"People go, have a drink; it's fine," he said. "We don't want to have huge crowds piling in."

A majority of the state's counties will be entering this new phase, though the move will exclude Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties. These regions "were hit more severely" during the pandemic.

"We've had some good trends in places like Broward, but they are on a different schedule. We will continue to work with them collaboratively," he said.

The governor added that they could also send in their plans to seek approval.

During this initiative, restaurants can operate bar-top seating and bars can run with 50% capacity inside but full capacity outside. Social distancing guidelines are expected to be enforced during both.

Entertainment venues like theaters will also be allowed to welcome visitors during this plan, but they will have to implement the proper protocols.

“Movie theaters, and bowling alleys, they have a 50% capacity appropriate social distancing and sanitation protocols. Those have not been operating up to this point, you know they now have a pathway to do that,” DeSantis mentioned.

Places like gyms and retail stores, which were a part of the first phase, have gotten the OK to work at full capacity starting Friday.

The decision to enter the second phase comes one week after the state experienced the most cases documented in a single day since April 17.Photos used for illustrative purposes.