Miami Beach Coronavirus: 450 Bed Field Hospital To Be Set Up At The Convention Center
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - While our hospitals are keeping up, for now, officials are making plans to turn the Miami Beach Convention Center in a makeshift hospital.
On Tuesday, the US Army Corps of Engineers will visit the center to review its plan of building a 450-bed field hospital.
Miami Beach is also ramping up efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Shoppers are now required to wear a mask, a bandana can be used as a substitute.
Restaurant and store workers must keep their nose and mouth covered.
"Do the best you can not to spread the virus or expose yourself to it," said Miami Beach police Chief Richard Clements.
Miami Beach police are enforcing local and statewide orders, but a criminal violation is not the first approach.
"These are what the rules are. This is what we are all being governed by, so we have to make sure we follow them," said Clements.
The city's beaches are closed and there is a nightly curfew.
So far, two people have been arrested. One wouldn't leave the beach after being told it was closed. The other happened over the weekend during the curfew. That person, the chief said, was driving without a license and doesn't live in the city.
"We think probably up here maybe looking to take advantage of the fact that everything was closed down and there wasn't a whole lot of traffic," the chief said.
Most visitors are gone since the hotels are closed.
Neighbors have complained about some people not following a mandatory 14-day isolation if they arrived from a hot spot like New York.
The city started the Quarantine Response Team. It's made up of three people per shift who wear protective gear and make sure people who are in quarantine are following the guidelines.
"They're not there without some level of information to provide them without the ability to sustain themselves for a period of 14 days," the chief told us.
Coronavirus has impacted the department. Three officers and a reserve officer tested positive. 50 others were told to self-isolate for 14 days as a precaution per CDC guidelines. Since then, 22 have returned.
The chief said those officers are recovering.
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