The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Florida
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Fla. Const. art. III; Fla. Stat. ch. 381 (Public Health: General Provisions)
- Issued
- 2021-07-01 July 1, 2021
- Effective
- In force on the first and last day of every quarter 2020 Q2 through 2021 Q3; the public health emergency declared under this section on Mar. 1, 2020 (Ex. FL-003) was renewed every sixty days through the Feb. 19, 2021 renewal (Ex. FL-076) and lapsed with the state of emergency in June 2021 (read as 2020-03-01)
- End
- standing (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Standing since Mar. 1, 2020 (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Emergency declarationBusiness closureQuarantine and isolationStanding duty
- Addressees
- persons generally ('any person'); owners or persons in control of premises (quarantine and closure of premises; tests 'required before employment or admission to the premises'); drug manufacturers and wholesalers (priority-shipping directives)
- Character
- statutory duty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Florida DUT-FL
Operative words
Any person who violates any rule adopted under this section, any isolation or quarantine, or any requirement adopted by the department pursuant to a declared public health emergency, commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
Penalty
Second-degree misdemeanor (s. 775.082: up to 60 days; s. 775.083: fine up to $500); orders of the State Health Officer and of the Department 'immediately enforceable by a law enforcement officer under s. 381.0012' (subs. (1)(c)4.b and (4))
What it required
Every person must comply with the Department of Health's isolation and quarantine orders (which the statute extends to 'persons, animals, and premises'), with its rules on 'the closure of premises' and 'the disinfection of... premises,' and with every requirement the Department adopts during a declared public health emergency, on pain of a second-degree misdemeanor and immediate enforcement by any law enforcement officer.
Retrieval noteFilename date 2020-07-01 marks the 2020 Florida Statutes edition (laws through the 2020 regular session); the history note confirms no amendment between 2018 and the 2021 session. Subsection (4): 'The department has the duty and the authority to declare, enforce, modify, and abolish the isolation and quarantine of persons, animals, and premises as the circumstances indicate for controlling communicable diseases or providing protection from unsafe conditions that pose a threat to public health.' Subsection (5) requires rules on '(a) The closure of premises,' '(c) The tests or treatment, including vaccination, for communicable disease required before employment or admission to the premises' and '(f) The disinfection of isolated or quarantined animals, persons, or premises.' Subsection (6) also provides that rules and actions under a declared public health emergency 'supersede all rules enacted by other state departments, boards or commissions, and ordinances and regulations enacted by political subdivisions.' Paragraph (1)(b) defines a 'public health advisory' as 'any warning or report giving information to the public' and provides that 'The State Health Officer is authorized to take any action appropriate to enforce any public health advisory'; the advisories of Mar. 25, June 20 and July 20, 2020 (Exs. FL-014, FL-035, FL-040) were issued under this paragraph and are written in 'should' form. Ch. 2021-8, § 17 (Ex. FL-030) amended paragraph (1)(c) and subsection (2) only; the quarantine, closure and penalty provisions continued unchanged into Q3 2021. The DOH school rules 64DER21-12 and 64DER21-15 (Exs. FL-032, FL-033) were adopted under this section in Q3 2021.