Bar Notice
(12/11/2020)
As you are no doubt aware, COVID-19 cases have been increasing across the country, and Tampa is no exception. While we are now seeing light at the end of the tunnel with the approval of a vaccine, it will be several months until enough people are vaccinated to allow us to return to normal. Between now and then, it is critical that we all do everything we can to reduce the transmission of COVID-19.
At this time:
- A strike team of Code Enforcement and TPD officers will be visiting bars on a regular basis and issuing citations to any establishments that are not enforcing local face mask orders. Specifically, City of Tampa Executive Order 2020-42 requires all individuals to wear face masks indoors when they are unable to social distance, and requires business owners to:
- post signs to notify patrons that they are required to wear face masks
- require employees to wear face masks,
- make announcements about wearing masks over a PA system, if available, and
- to ask individual patrons not wearing face masks to do so.
- Similar to other Florida counties and cities, Tampa may impose fines and penalties on business owners that do not enforce the local face mask orders in their establishments. The City of Tampa is exploring other options similar to those enforcement actions taken in the region, state and across the country.
- If bar owners in the City continue to fail to enforce the face mask orders, the City may pursue more stringent enforcement of the orders and may impose additional measures, such as limitations on indoor capacity or the adoption of a curfew.
We appreciate your cooperation.
Executive Order 2020-42
Per Executive Order 2020-42, every person working, living, visiting, or doing business in the City of Tampa is required to wear a face covering in any indoor location, other than their home or residence, when not maintaining social distancing from other person(s), excluding family members or companions. See Executive Order 2020-42.
Please note: Medical and surgical face masks, such as "N95" masks or other similar medical or surgical masks, are in short supply and should be reserved for health care personnel and other first responders with the greatest need for such personal protective equipment.
Exceptions
Facial coverings are not required to be worn by the following persons:
- Persons under the age of five years
- Persons observing social distancing in accordance with CDC guidelines
- Persons for whom a face covering would cause impairment due to an existing health condition
- Persons working in a business or profession who do not have interactions with other persons
- Persons working in a business or profession who maintain social distancing from another person
- Persons working in a business or profession where use of a face covering would prevent them from performing the duties of the business or profession
- Persons exercising, while maintaining social distancing
- Persons while eating or drinking
- Public safety, fire and other life safety and health care personnel, as their personal protective equipment requirements will be governed by their respective agencies
- The requirement shall not apply when a person who is hearing-impaired needs to see the mouth of someone wearing a face covering in order to communicate
This order does not require or allow a person to wear a face covering so as to conceal the identity of the wearer in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 876.
Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners Order
Hillsborough County has also ordered a face covering requirement, effective countywide, including within the City of Tampa.
Per the Hillsborough County face covering order, as amended on December 16, 2020:
- No food or drinks may be served for on‐site consumption to patrons who are not seated at a table or bar.
- Standing at a bar is prohibited.
- Bars and Nightclubs shall not maintain spaces that allow the congregation of unseated people.
- Bar and Nightclub patrons must not be permitted to remain unseated at a table or at the bar, in any area of the Bar or Nightclub, unless waiting to be seated.
- Any groups of patrons waiting to be seated must remain Socially Distanced in groups not larger than 10, all of whom must be Companions.
- The Hillsborough County order is specifically intended to prohibit dance floor areas within any Bar, Nightclub, or Restaurant or other areas allowing congregation of unseated persons.
Face Masks Required
Face Masks Required Sign
Face Masks Required Table Tent Card
Choose Your Facemask Flyers
Mayor Castor PA/Intercom Announcement
Both City of Tampa and Hillsborough County orders are now in effect. These orders will remain in effect so long as a state of local emergency is in effect or unless otherwise modified or repealed.
Every person working, living, visiting, or doing business in the City of Tampa shall wear a face covering in any indoor location (other than their home or residence) when not maintaining social distancing from other person(s), excluding family members or companion(s).
However, there are exceptions to the face covering requirement.
The following are excluded from Executive Order 2020-42:
- Persons under the age of five years.
- Persons observing social distancing in accordance with CDC guidelines
- Persons for whom a face covering would cause impairment due to an existing health condition
- Persons working in a business or profession who do not have interactions with other persons
- Persons working in a business or profession who maintain social distancing from another person
- Persons working in a business or profession where use of a face covering would prevent them from performing the duties of the business or profession
- Persons exercising, while also maintaining social distancing
- Persons eating or drinking
- Public safety, fire and other life safety and health care personnel, as their personal protective equipment requirements will be governed by their respective agencies
- The requirement shall not apply when a person who is hearing-impaired needs to see the mouth of someone wearing a face covering in order to communicate.
Face coverings are required in any indoor location (excluding one’s home or residence) when not maintaining social distancing from other persons.
Face coverings don’t need to be worn outdoors unless you can’t maintain a physical distance of six feet from others. If you can keep the physical distance, a face covering is not needed when you are outside walking, exercising, or otherwise outside.
Executive Order 2020-42, which requires the use of face coverings in indoor public settings inside Tampa city limits, is in effect within the City of Tampa.
Hillsborough County has also ordered a face covering requirement, effective throughout Hillsborough County.
Homemade coverings, bandanas, scarves and neck gaiters are all OK. The CDC has provided simple steps for making a cloth face covering with everyday items from your home that can be found here. A video showing how to make a cloth face covering can be found here.
Cloth face coverings should:
- Fit snugly but comfortably against the side of the face
- Be secured with ties or ear loops
- Be made of more than one layer of fabric that you can still breathe through
- Be able to be washed and machine dried without damage or change to shape
Cloth face coverings should be washed after each use. It is important to always remove face coverings correctly and wash your hands after handling or touching a used face covering. Follow the CDC’s guidance on how to properly wash cloth face coverings.
Note: Medical grade masks should be saved for healthcare workers.
The City of Tampa has proudly distributed more than 500,000 free face masks to individuals and businesses in our community. Businesses and non-profit organizations in need of face masks for their customers and/or employees can request them for free online and pick up at a designated location.
The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.
The primary role of the use of face coverings is to reduce the release of infectious particles into the air when someone speaks, coughs, or sneezes, including someone who has COVID-19 but feels well. Cloth face coverings are not a substitute for physical distancing, washing hands, and staying home when ill, but they may be helpful when combined with these primary interventions.
For your own safety, do not confront or start an argument with individuals without face coverings. Stay 6 feet away from people who are not wearing face coverings. You may also call or talk to the business owner about your concerns if you see staff or customers who are not wearing face covers in indoor public settings.
Be kind! If someone is not wearing a face covering, we should also be accepting that the individual has a valid reason, including concerns for their own safety. Please do not shame or yell at people who are not wearing face coverings. Others may have breathing problems or health issues you do not know about. People who cannot wear a cloth face covering are not required to show proof of their medical condition nor are they required to name their medical condition.
The face covering requirement will remain in effect in the City of Tampa for so long as a state of local emergency is in effect or unless otherwise modified or repealed