Miami-Dade County Mayor Gimenez will sign an emergency order closing all County beaches starting July 3 and restricting any gatherings, parades of more than 50 people; viewing of fireworks shows limited
MIAMI – Statement from Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez about July 4th festivities:
After consulting with our County’s public health experts, I will be signing an emergency order on Saturday to close all beaches in Miami-Dade County starting Friday, July 3, and ending Tuesday, July 7.
The closure may be extended if conditions do not improve and people do not follow New Normal rules requiring masks to be worn always inside commercial establishments and outdoors when social distancing of at least 6 feet is not possible.
As we continue to see more COVID-19 positive test results among young adults and rising hospitalizations, I have decided that the only prudent thing to do to tamp down this recent uptick is to crack down on recreational activities that put our overall community at higher risk.
Again, everyone should wear masks inside public establishments and outside if they cannot practice social distancing of at least 6 feet.
I have been seeing too many businesses and people ignoring these lifesaving rules. If people are not going to be responsible and protect themselves and others from this pandemic, then the government is forced to step in and restore common sense to save lives.
Following Centers for Disease Control recommendations, my order will also ban any gatherings — including parades — of more than 50 people throughout the County for whatever reason from July 3 to 7. In those situations, masks and social distancing are required and five groups of no more than 10 people will be allowed.
All parks and beaches will be closed to the public in all cities and unincorporated areas of the County to public viewing of fireworks. Fireworks displays must be viewed from one’s home or parked vehicle.
The Miami-Dade County Police Department will continue to be out in force this weekend to close establishments that are flaunting the social distancing and masks rules and capacity limits. Violators face a second-degree criminal penalty of up to $500 and 180 days in jail.
We are also training SURGE (Strategic Urban Response to Guideline Education) Teams this weekend to reach out to residents in virus hotspots and give them testing information, masks and hand sanitizer.
After all the success we have had tamping down the COVID-19 curve, we cannot turn back and overload our hospitals, putting our doctors and nurses at greater risk with more emergency room cases.
Everyone must do their part and follow the rules. All cities should be enforcing the County’s orders.
This new order will be targeting those who are being most irresponsible and endangering our community’s health and our economic recovery.
