Sill, Palm Beach County’s new rules don’t go as far as Miami-Dade County went.

*

TO OUR READERS: This content is being provided for free as a public service to our readers during the coronavirus outbreak. Please support local journalism by subscribing to The Palm Beach Post. If you want breaking coronavirus news directly in your inbox, sign up for our Coronavirus Newsletter.

*

With growing cases of community spread of the coronavirus in South Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday ordered the closure of all beaches in Palm Beach and Broward counties, along with gyms and movie theaters, and ordered restaurants that seat more than 10 to close dining rooms.

Nineteen of Palm Beach County’s 34 positive cases as of Friday morning had no connection to another positive case or to travel, prompting Dr. Alina Alonso, director of the county’s health department, to call them “community spread” cases.

“We expect higher numbers to start appearing now because of that community transfer,” Alonso said during a news conference Friday, referring to the spread of disease locally as opposed to through travel. “That’s natural. That’s nothing that anybody’s done wrong. That’s how this virus is supposed to behave. We knew that was coming. We know the numbers will get greater.”

The governor’s order — which takes effect immediately, and can be extended past its current expiration date of March 31 — is modeled after, but not as extensive as, closures ordered in Miami-Dade Thursday.

In addition to the closure of gyms, movie theaters and beaches in Palm Beach and Broward counties, DeSantis specifically ordered the shuttering of concert halls, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys and arcades.

All Palm Beach County-operated parks also will close starting Saturday, with the exception of these regional parks and golf courses: Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park, Dyer Park, Glades Pioneer Park, John Prince Park, Okeeheelee Park - North and South, Park Ridge Golf Course, Riverbend Park & Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park, Southwinds Golf Course and West Delray Regional Park.

The order does not close essential services such as grocery stores, pharmacies, gas stations and convenience stores.

A separate order would force restaurants statewide to close in-house dining operations. Many had remained open following the 50 percent occupancy restrictions placed earlier this week. But the new order would eliminate any kind of table service, leaving restaurants with the option of running as takeout/curbside pickup, drive-through and delivery businesses, an option some owners said would not pay the bills.

While many restaurants already transitioned to takeout and delivery, they did so with greatly reduced staff. Bars and nightclubs were ordered closed Tuesday.

“Those were very, very difficult decisions to make because that is someone’s livelihood. They feed their family by working,” County Administrator Verdenia Baker said during the news conference. “We did not do this lightly. We understand what challenges they have and we will continue to work with them.”

While the governor sharply reduced elective medical care in a separate order, many other types of businesses are allowed to remain open, County Mayor Dave Kerner said.

“The vast majority of businesses, law offices, doctor’s offices, things of that nature will be allowed to remain open,” he said. “We ask that you use your common sense and spirit of civic duty to enforce the social distancing efforts that have helped us keep that (epidemic) curve pushed to the right.”

County officials spaced themselves about 6 feet apart around a speaker’s platform while announcing the stepped-up measures to prevent the disease’s spread, maintaining social distancing except when it came time to brush past one another on the way to the microphone.

Baker told businesses leaders that were not included in the order, that for now, they will not be ordered to close.

“For the most part, those businesses have already made those decisions to shut down,” she said.

For workers looking for a job, Baker suggested calling the county’s job creation nonprofit CareerSource Palm Beach County. For small business owners, she suggested contacting SBA Disaster Assistance loans.

DeSantis made his decision clear Thursday when he warned that Broward and Palm Beach counties would be shutting down all “non-essential” businesses, a step taken Thursday by Miami-Dade County.

During the call with business leaders, Baker said that Palm Beach and Broward “made a conscious decision not to take that step” to siphon businesses into “essential” and “non-essential” categories, as Miami-Dade had.

“Let me be very clear: every business in Palm Beach County is an essential business,” she said. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be here investing your dollars.”

The idea of uniformity is to stop the spread of coronavirus in a three-county area that recorded 271 of the state’s 520 confirmed cases as of Friday morning, keeping bummed-out Miami Beach spring breakers from simply taking a drive north.

DeSantis said in preparing the order that since there is evidence of community spread, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends “additional items that should be on the list” for closure.

“If that’s going to be something that’s going to be beneficial and the CDC recommends it, then we’re happy to help with that,” he said Thursday.

Rather than issue its own guidance on closures, Kerner said the counties are “going to do it holding hands with the governor's office.” On Thursday, he extended the county’s week-long state of emergency for another week.

The governor's order gives county officials some discretion. “The Broward County and Palm Beach County administrators will also have the ability to enforce, relax, modify or remove these closures as they see fit,” it says.

“We must stay calm and we must be prepared,” Baker said. “This is an unprecedented time we’re in with COVID-19.”

Property appraiser and tax collector go online

Palm Beach Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks and Tax Collector Anne Gannon both announced Friday their offices would be closed to walk-ins, instead providing services online or by phone.

Anyone who needs to file a homestead exemption, tangible personal property tax returns or other services provided by the office can call the office at 561-355-3230, email myexemption@pbcgov.org or go online to pbcgov.org/PAPA.

For the tax collector’s office, services will begin online Tuesday. For more information, call 561-355-2264 or visit pbctax.com.

Another county service, Animal Care and Control, said it would be instituting changes beginning Monday: spay and neuter surgeries for the public would stop for two weeks; animal surrender appointments won’t be accepted until further notice; and volunteer orientations will temporarily stop.

Staff writer LIz Balmaseda contributed to this story.

hmorse@pbpost.com

@mannahhorse