Florida Governor Ron DeSantishas officially issued a Shelter In Place order for the Sunshine State. This information comes from a press briefing the Governor conducted earlier today. The order goes into effect Thursday night at midnight.

"I'm going to be doing an executive order today directing all Floridians to limit movements and personal interactions outside the home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities," Governor DeSantis said at his briefing. DeSantis mentioned that the state will follow the list of essential services as laid out by the Department of Homeland Security, and follow the example put forward by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.

"At this point, even though there are a lot of places in Florida that have very low infection rates, it makes sense to make this move now," DeSantis added. "I did consult with folks in the White House and I spoke to the President about it. He agreed with the approach to focus on the hot spots. At the same time, he understood that this is another 30 day situation and you got to do what makes the most sense."

This move is a somewhat sudden turn considering DeSantis' previous stance on the subject. Around two weeks ago the Governor said he was not going to close any beaches in Florida. Clearly DeSantis had a change of heart after discussing the ongoing situation with the President.

As NPR reports, this move means that Florida is joining with over 30 other states across the country to enforce non-essential workers to stay at home. Over 85% of Americans are now impacted by such orders.

A number of states have not only had to issue Shelter In Place orders, but have also had to increase enforcement of these orders. Both Hawaii and New York City have implemented fines or even jail time to ensure that those deemed non-essential abide by the orders. So far there have been no reports that anybody has actually been fined.

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