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Covid-19 cases are on the rise in Miami-Dade, but the county won’t shut down again despite the uptick.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber held press conferences on Monday to acknowledge the growing number of positive cases but all went on the record to say they wouldn’t be rolling back reopenings at this time.
“There are major concerns,” said Suarez, standing alongside Gelber at Miami City Hall. The two held a joint conference earlier in the day to sound the alarm on a situation that could spiral out of control if the public doesn’t wise up. “We’re here to emphasize to not let your guard down—that’s the predominant message. As it stands today, we are not ready for phase 3” Suarez added. The warning comes after the Florida Health Department informed him and other health officials that new cases were up an average of 13 per day while positive tests had a daily increase of 0.1 percent.
Gímenez echoed Suarez during his own virtual conference later in the day, reassuring the public that Miami-Dade would continue in phase two but that future openings wouldn’t happen for a while. Giménez went on to remind the public that we were on our own, color-coded timeline. “Miami-Dade is a little different than the rest of the state; the governor has allowed us to set our own rules,” said Giménez, who confirmed we’re in an extended phase 2/yellow. Green would follow, allowing for greater occupancy in businesses and larger activities and events, and finally blue, when we’re fully engaged in the new normal.
The conferences served as an official wake-up call that even though beaches have reopened and most restaurants are up and running at 50-percent capacity, we’re still very much in the throes of a global health crisis. So, in case the thousands of memes floating around haven’t relayed the message, we’ll leave you with a few words from Suarez: “We want to reiterate wearing your mask, reiterate washing your hands and to practice social distancing.”
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