TALLAHASSEE (WFLA) — Florida beaches have not been ordered to close amid the coronavirus pandemic but will adhere to recommendations by the Center for Disease Control, the governor announced.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference Tuesday morning to address sweeping new restrictions to help prevent the spread of the virus. While an order was issued to close bars and nightclubs, the fate of beaches will be left to their respective cities.

With entertainment venues closing and spring break being in full force, the west coast of Florida is seeing an influx of beach goers.

A video by WFLA showing the massive crowd at Clearwater Beach Monday took social media by surprise. Nearly 15 million people viewed the video on Twitter and over 6,000 people replied to it — many tagging the accounts of DeSantis and local government officials.

DeSantis said that while beaches won’t be ordered by the state to close, the state will be enforcing CDC guidelines that recommends no group of more than 10 be close together on a beach.

“We’ve seen some big crowds on the west coast of Florida and I’ve had a chance to speak to mayors on both coast today,” DeSantis said. “If … they want to continue to [leave the beach open], we want them to have the freedom to do that, but we also want them to have the freedom to do more if they see fit.”

LATEST STORIES: