Miami, Sep 26 (IANS): Authorities in the US state of Florida have decided to lift all Covid-19 restrictions on restaurants and bars effective immediately.

"There will not be limitations from the state of Florida. I think this will be very, very important to the industry," The Hill news website quoted DeSantis as saying at a press conference on Friday.

"Some of the local (governments) can do reasonable regulations, but you can't say no after six months and just have people twisting in the wind," he added.

While acknowledging that the Covid-19 pandemic was still a concern, the Governor said that his state was prepared if there was a surge in fresh cases and businesses should not be forced to close.

"We're prepared if we see an increase. We're not closing anything moving forward. We have the tools in place," DeSantis added.

In the middle of the year, Florida had emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot after a sudden spike in the number of confirmed cases, due to which the Governor has ordered bars to shut.

As of Saturday, the 'Sunshine State' has reported more than 696,000 coronavirus cases, with 13,914 deaths.