Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan assured citizens Wednesday that deputies would not be stopping and arresting people for leaving their homes under the governor's new stay-at-home order.

The sheriff said his office started to receive a flood of calls from concerned citizens after Gov. Ron DeSantis instructed Floridians that effective at 12:01 a.m. Friday, citizens are only to leave their homes for essential services for the next 30 days.

In a short Facebook video, the sheriff said his department interpreted the governor's order as a warning and a request for people vulnerable to COVID-19 to limit their travel and gatherings as much as possible.

"What the governor was trying to do was to ramp up appropriately our need to remain on the leading edge of this virus and how it's transmitted, and his concern for those who are 65 and older with pre-existing medical conditions," Morgan said. "Other than that, it's pretty much business as usual. So again, everybody calm down, you're not going to be arrested for leaving your home. You're probably not even going to be stopped in questioned."

► Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis limits residents to essential services only for 30 days

The sheriff did say that his deputies and other law enforcement agencies would be targeting large gatherings, and he asked individuals, organizations and businesses to use good judgement and observe social distancing guidelines of groups of less than 10 kept apart at six-foot distances.

Officer Mike Wood, a spokesman for the Pensacola Police Department, said the new order will not change the department's COVID-19 enforcement.

He said generally, officers were reminding people to respect the limitations around large gatherings, particularly at parks.

"We're just reminding people about the six-foot rule and letting them go about their business," Wood said. "If we see gatherings of more than 10 people, we're asking them to separate. We're not arresting anybody for violations or writing any tickets."

Addressing what are considered essential businesses and activities, the sheriff noted the term could be applied vary broadly to everything from church services to scrap metal collecting,

"So again, you're not in the middle of martial law," the sheriff said. "You're not gonna be arrested leaving your home. No one's telling you you can't leave your home, we're just asking you that you practice good health care advisories. ... Life as you know it today is what it will be tomorrow, with very, very few changes."

Kevin Robinson can be reached at krobinson4@pnj.com or 850-435-8527.