On Monday of this week, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez released a statement along with a new emergency order. Due to the recent spike of positive COVID-19 tests and hospitalizations, this new order will close many public establishments to stop the increasing spread of the virus. These closures will be made effective this Wednesday, July 8th, 2020.
What is Closed in Miami-Dade County?
The mayor’s order will implement the closure of restaurant dining rooms, ballrooms, banquet facilities, party venues, and short-term rentals.
Along with the order that was signed yesterday, movie theaters, concert houses, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys, arcades, indoor and outdoor amusement facilities, casinos, and adult theaters, cabarets, and unlicensed massage establishments will also be closed as per the order signed on July 3rd, 2020 which took effect on July 4th, 2020.
What is still Open in Miami-Dade County?
The mayor made an informal statement that it would be fine to have outdoor dining with limited capacity later on Monday night. Restaurants will also still be allowed to continue takeout and delivery services. The order initially included the closing of gyms and fitness centers, however the Mayor reversed the order on those facilities on July 7th, 2020.
As of now, the recently opened non-essential businesses that are excluded from the recent orders, such as retail stores, will continue to be open upon the businesses’ discretion. Along with the closures, Gimenez announced the reopening of Miami-Dade County beaches effective Tuesday, July 7th, 2020. The mayor warned in his statement that if there was crowding and if beachgoers failed to follow public health rules, then he would be forced to shut them down again.
The Mayor also made it a point in his statement that he plans to keep various outdoor activities, including condominium and hotel pools open, as well as summer camps and child daycare centers. All of these will be open with strict capacity limits, the requiring of masks and social distancing of at least 6 feet.
The statement also included words from the Mayor with some information that led to their decision to sign the order. They are still tracking the spike in the number of cases involving 18- to 34-year-olds that began in mid-June, which the County’s medical experts say was caused by a number of factors. The factors mentioned were young people going to congested places both inside and outside. It is important to note that this was done without taking the regulated precautions such as wearing masks and practicing social distancing. The doctors with whom the Mayor spoke with also informed him that the positives in that age group also came from graduation parties, gatherings at restaurants that turned into packed parties in violation of the rules, and street protests where people could not maintain social distancing and not everyone was wearing facial coverings.
The 10 PM to 6 AM curfew that was implemented on July 3rd, 2020 is still in effect. Our local government wants to ensure that our hospitals are not overwhelmed with the number of patients in need of care.
