Live WWE fights have resumed after Florida governor deemed the organization an essential business

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has deemed WWE an essential business, allowing the live broadcasts of fights to continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.
• "The memo does not specify specific sports, as long as the event location is closed to the general public," a DeSantis spokesperson told ESPN.
• At least one "on-screen talent" at WWE has recently tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
• Florida's stay-at-home order was enacted at the beginning of April and lasts until at least April 30.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared sports organizations, including World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) "essential," allowing them to broadcast live fights amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.

"With some conversation with the governor's office regarding the governor's order, they were deemed an essential business. And so, therefore, they were allowed to remain open," Demings said of WWE at a press conference Monday, according to Orlando's WESH.

According to WESH, the office of the Florida governor said that organizations like WWE were deemed essential because they are "critical" to the Florida economy.

An on-screen talent at WWE, who is not a member of the organization's roster, tested positive for COVID-19, Pro Wrestling Sheet reported April 11. In a statement, WWE said the infected person was doing well and they believed the case presented "low risk to WWE talent and staff."

The policy change was announced in an April 9 memo from DeSantis that said "employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience" were considered essential employees.

According to the memo, these include "any athletes, entertainers, production team, executive team, media team and any others necessary to facilitate including services supporting such production."

The order stipulates that the filming location be closed to the public. The same order also deemed employees at mental health, domestic violence, and "urgent counseling" facilities essential. It also classified workers at zoos, aquariums, and theme parks essential.

On Monday, the WWE aired a live broadcast its "Raw" program on USA Network. The live broadcasts come after "several weeks" of airing taped fights, a WWE spokesperson told ESPN on Saturday.

"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times," WWE said in a statement.

Other sports leagues, like Major League Baseball, are considering plans to bring back their sports without live audiences. According to the ESPN report, the UFC indefinitely suspended its fights, though UFC president Dana White has said that he wants to resume them as soon as possible.

"The memo does not specify specific sports, as long as the event location is closed to the general public," a DeSantis spokesperson told ESPN.

DeSantis had been criticized for his early refusal to declare a stay-at-home order in Florida. DeSantis, a Republican, ordered the non-essential workforce to stay at home beginning on April 3, weeks after other leaders began doing so in their states.

According to The New York Times, a phone call with President Donald Trump eventually convinced the governor to declare the order. The order runs until at least April 30. So far, there have been at least 19,893 cases of COVID-19 in Florida and 461 deaths as a result, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

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