Palm Beach County is reopening short-term vacation rentals, the last in South Florida to allow platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo to resume after a three-month shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Counties and cities in the region have started to reopen hotels, and Miami-Dade and Broward counties reopened short-term vacation rentals Monday.

Palm Beach County Vice Mayor Robert Weinroth on Wednesday announced the county's short-term rentals are open.

"The tourism and hospitality industry is critical to the county's recovery efforts, especially since these are small business operations.  With the recent opening of hotels, opening up these businesses was not only logical but a significant next step," Weinroth said in a news release.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which must sign off on county plans to reopen short-term vacation rentals, approved Palm Beach's guidelines.

The county based its specifications for best practices and safety precautions on recommendations issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Washington-based trade group Vacation Rental Management Association and its nonprofit subsidiary Vacation Rental Housekeeping Professionals.

Public health and government officials as well as Florida vacation rental managers and operators also provided input.

Gov. Ron DeSantis banned vacation rentals March 27 and opened the door for these businesses to reopen with the approval of local governments and the state May 15.

Palm Beach is limiting reservations to U.S. travelers. There is a 30-day suspension starting Monday on reservations from travelers coming from COVID-19 hot spots declared by DeSantis.

Other precautions include keeping units vacant for at least  24 hours between guests and doing remote check-in and check-out when possible.

For more information on the county's short-term vacation rental guidelines, click here.

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