TAMPA, Fla — UPDATE: Gov. DeSantis issued an executive order Tuesday extending the state of emergency due to COVID-19.
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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the executive order would expire Monday. It was set to expire Tuesday until the governor issued an order extending it.
It's been more than a year since a State of Emergency was declared in Florida due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gov. Ron DeSantis now has until the end of the day Tuesday to extend the emergency order he put in place on March 1, 2020.
The governor signed his initial emergency order back in March when only eight Florida counties had positive cases of COVID-19. Since then, there have been confirmed cases reported across the state's 67 counties.
➡️ Click here to read the original order.
In the past, Gov. DeSantis has extended the order in 60-day increments. If the order is not extended, those who are filing for unemployment worry they'll be affected.
This weekend, the Work Search Requirement waiver expired on Saturday after an extension was not passed. The Department of Economic Opportunity now says those filing for unemployment have to start proving that they are searching for a job.
Anyone looking to claim payments moving forward will have to show proof they've applied for at least five jobs per week in the state's CONNECT system. The process is required every two weeks. Those who live in counties with less than 75,000 people only have to prove they're searching for three jobs per week.
This is a developing story. 10 Tampa Bay has reached out to the Governor's office to see if he plans on extending the State's Emergency Order.
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