The Bay County Board of County Commissioners and the City of Panama City Beach Council have both called public meetings for Thursday Morning. Both meetings have been called to discuss the re-opening of Bay County and Panama City Beaches due to the Corona Virus (COVID-19) closures. The County Meeting is scheduled for 8:00 am and the City Meeting is scheduled for 9:00 am Thursday.
The County and the City both have ordinances in place that allow for the public to utilize the beaches from 6:00 am to 9:00 am and from 5:00pm to 8:00pm daily.
Governor DeSantis announced changes to Floridas COVID-19 response on Wednesday. His “Safe, Smart, Step by Step” titled announcement allows, Monday restaurants can open again to the public with 25% seating inside and 6ft of distance in outside seating. Elective surgery can take place and regular doctor visits like dental visits and alike can resume. The Governor did not release hair and nail salons to resume business, nor did he re-open short term rentals in the state. He stated, this will be “days not months” of continued change. He did exclude Broward, Miami Dade and Palm Beach Counties because of their Covid-19 infection rate. He also still stressed the importance of social distancing and abiding by the Presidents Covid-19 guidelines.
It is widely expected that Bay County and Panama City Beach will re-open their beaches entirely in the near future after the special meetings Thursday. Also in question is whether beach service can resume operations.
Both meetings will be shown live on Panhandle Politics Facebook
