Wynwood Businesses Trying To Remain Optimistic Amid Zika Scare
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) — After being busy all week long with workers draining standing water and spraying for mosquitoes, Wynwood is hoping to return to its usual pace.
But Friday night the oft-packed art district was "pretty dead" as one young woman put it, and Zika is to blame.
"It usually takes over 20 minutes to find parking. Today two minutes," a young man told CBS4's Hank Tester.
Some business owners said they've had 30 percent drop in revenue earlier in the week.
"One or two bad days out of the week could pretty much set them back the whole month believe it or not," Gus Manessis said.
Zika 101: Prevent Spread By Protecting Yourself
In the neighborhoods that make up the community, medical specialists spent the morning picking up the traps they set to catch mosquitoes.
Dr. Roxanne Connelly said her team, from the University of Florida, was looking for not only adult mosquitoes but also their eggs.
"We have traps that monitor when adult mosquitoes come in and lay their eggs. We can collect those on papers and hatch them later and figure out what they are," said Connelly. "We're using carbon dioxide beta traps to collect adult mosquitoes in the area."
The team will test the mosquitoes back at a lab to determine which type of insecticide will work best on them.
Related: EPA: Insecticide Used To Fight Zika Is Safe
The health department believes the 16 non-travel related cases of people contracting the Zika virus from mosquito bites all occurred in one small area just north of downtown Miami. The exact location is within the boundaries of the following area: NW 5th Avenue to the west, US 1 to the east, NW/NE 38th Street to the north and NW/NE 20th Street to the south. This area is about one square mile.
After seeing smaller than usual crowds this week, people who work in the artsy enclave say they are optimistic of the coming days.
"It's been a little bit less of a crowd here lately, this week especially I guess. Going into the weekend I still expect to see people out. I haven't seen any pregnant women, which is great. That's the main thing I was concerned about," said David Bennett at Etra Fine Art.
"I'm hoping with all the new information that's been released, over a thousand mosquitoes a day being tested and not one found to be contaminated. I'm hoping people can get out of their scaredness and come out. There's no reason to stay home," said Miguel Aguilar at the Wynwood Kitchen & Bar.
Aguilar and Bennett say they hope the worst is behind them.
"It's been slow. Obviously, you can see it's desolate around here. But we're still open. There's still people coming in and we're accommodating the people that wanna be out," said Aguilar.
"I think it'll bounce back relatively soon," said Bennett.
Some tourists visiting the area said they were unaware of what was going on until they were told. Some places are offering their customers mosquito repellent swabs and spray. Others are burning citronella candles around outdoor gathering spots.
"I asked them if there is any truth to the Zika issue and they said it was under control. Things are fine. I took their word and I came out here," said visitor Issac Thomas.
Click here for more information on the Zika virus or here for more Zika-related stories.
