On September 25, 2020, Florida lifted all remaining capacity restrictions on businesses, while also prohibiting local governments from enforcing public health orders with fines, or restricting restaurants to less than 50% capacity. According to the federal Center for Disease Control, life expectancy during 2020 dropped in Florida to 77.5 years, down from 79 years in 2019; that fall of 1.5 years in Florida compared to a nationwide fall of 1.8 years, “mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increases in unintentional injuries,” with those unintentional deaths being mostly attributable to drug overdoses.Sachs, Sam. “Floridians’ life expectancy drops by 1.5 years, according to CDC”, WFLA-TV (Aug 2022).Arias, Elizabeth, et al.“National Vital Statistics Reports, Volume 71, Number 2, U.S. State Life Tables, 2020”, Division of Vital Statistics, Center for Disease Control (23 Aug 2022).Montgomery, Ben. “How Florida's life expectancy declined in the pandemic”, Axios Tampa Bay (6 Sep 2022).
