COVID-19 pandemic in Florida

[22] On February 15, 2023, the Florida Department of Health published a safety alert from the State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo warning of "a novel increase" in adverse event reports related to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.

[27][28] March 5: A new case is announced involving an elderly man with severe underlying health conditions in Santa Rosa County who had recently traveled outside the United States.

[35][36] March 11: UF Health Shands Hospital confirm they are treating their first patient with a case of COVID-19, but decline to say whether it was the same person who tested positive for the virus earlier in the week.

[6] May 5: Rebekah Jones, a geographic data scientist involved in tracking cases for the state, is terminated from her position by the Florida Department of Health.

Jones claimed that the Department of Health wanted data on Florida's coronavirus dashboard changed to support Governor Ron DeSantis' plans to resume economic activity.

[68] In May 2021, Jones was granted whistleblower protection by the Florida Commission of Human Resources, but the investigation found allegations of retaliatory adverse action unsubstantiated and was closed in September 2022.

[83] June 16: Hawkers St. Pete restaurant in St. Petersburg temporary shuts down until further notice due to a spike of cases in the city and Pinellas County.

[84] An ice hockey game in the Tampa Bay metropolitan area led to 14 of the 22 players and a rink staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

[86] June 21: The dashboard created by Rebekah Jones says that "the DOH "Cases" include residents and non-residents, but exclude those who received positive anti-body test results".

[5] July 14: Miami is declared the worst hit locale in the state by Dr Lilian Abbo, chief of infection prevention at Jackson Health System.

[103] September 24: Governor DeSantis suggested a "bill of rights" to protect college students from being expelled for attending parties that violate their school's COVID-19 rules.

[104] September 25: DeSantis issued an order that effectively nullified public health measures imposed by various local governments in Florida to combat the spread of the virus.

"[108] September 29: Governor DeSantis announced that the state will receive over six million rapid antigen tests for COVID-19, which typically provide results within fifteen minutes.

[114] October 22: WUFT reported that Florida universities "have received scores of formal complaints from students about their own classmates' behavior during the pandemic," such as packing bars off campus and holding parties without masks or social distancing.

[132] On March 27, DeSantis expanded a previous order requiring airline travelers from New York City to self-quarantine for fourteen days to include people who enter from Louisiana via Interstate 10.

[133] On March 28, an emergency alert was sent to cell phones throughout Florida from the state's Surgeon General, Dr. Scott A. Rivkees, regarding public safety among those 65 and older and those with medical conditions, as well as the full population.

[134] On March 30, DeSantis issued a stay-at-home order for the South Florida counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, and Monroe, where over 58% of the state's COVID-19 cases were concentrated.

[145] On June 23, DeSantis said that Florida bars and restaurants would be liable to lose their liquor licenses if they violate the state's social distancing guidelines.

In addition, municipalities are prohibited from collecting fines for violations of local health orders, and may not restrict restaurants to less than 50% capacity unless they receive approval from the state; they must provide justification for the decision, and detail any possible economic impact.

[156] In July 2021, Norwegian Cruise Line sued the Surgeon General of Florida, arguing that the prohibition of vaccine mandates "poses imminent, substantial, irreparable harms" to the company, and prevented it from being able to ensure the health and safety of its passengers and crew.

"[164] On August 8, District Judge Kathleen M. Williams issued a preliminary injunction against the prohibition, arguing that it "fails to provide a valid evidentiary, factual, or legal predicate", and that "documentary proof of vaccination will expedite passengers' entry into virtually every single country and port where Plaintiffs intend to sail.

"[165][166] On November 18, 2021, DeSantis signed four bills, passed by the Florida Legislature the previous day,[167] that, among other actions, limited vaccine mandates by businesses and government entities.

[168][169][170] In January 2023, amid the upcoming expiration of his executive orders in July 2023, DeSantis tabled legislation to make the prohibition of vaccine and mask mandates permanent.

[178] On June 23, Carlos Gimenez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County, said police would be enforcing rules concerning wearing masks in public places and social distancing.

[235][238] On April 9, the Division of Emergency Management amended its state-wide stay-at-home order, categorizing employees of "professional sports and media production with a national audience," if closed to the general public, essential workers.

It was subsequently reported that WWE was warned of the stay-at-home restrictions by officials, but that DeSantis deemed the company's operations critical to Florida's economy, and approved the new exemption in response.

[239] Secretary of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation Halsey Beshears had also made a post on Twitter directed to the mixed martial arts promotion UFC on April 7, suggesting that his department could help sanction their events there (however, after it intended to hold UFC 249 and other fights at a tribal casino in California, the promotion suspended all events indefinitely on April 9, by request of its U.S. rightsholders ESPN Inc. and The Walt Disney Company).

[259] On June 19, a number of COVID-19 cases were reported among team training facilities in Florida, including the Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) and Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL).

In Major League Baseball, the Toronto Blue Jays temporarily closed its spring training facility in Dunedin after a player showed signs of symptoms.

[264] With the introduction of Phase 3, some of Florida's sports teams began to reintroduce in-person spectators in late-2020, though still voluntarily limiting capacity to follow federal guidance.