Coronavirus Update: It's Still Uncertain When South Florida Beaches Will Reopen
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - In Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale Beach it is still quiet but a much different story in Jacksonville.
They reopened their beaches with time and space restrictions, but crowds grew pretty large.
"What we're trying to do is maintain a scenario where we're not crowding the beach," said Jacksonville Mayor Charlie Latham.
Thursday, they announced they were opening up their beachfront for essential activities while adhering to social distancing guidelines, as described by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Those include things like exercise and fishing.
In Miami-Dade County, a much different story. There are people walking, and riding on the boardwalk and it is still quiet on the beach.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber explained why, "We are not like every other community in the world. We're not Jacksonville Beach because they have you know a dozen deaths and we have had two hundred and we've done a lot more than they have."
Mayor Gelber tells CBS4 that he was concerned about the message Jacksonville Beach was sending, but recognized the need to begin planning for reintroduction into society.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez is working on a three-phase plan of reopening certain aspects of normal life.
"We're also looking at phases to open boating, beaches, and golf. Each phase would occur when the medical experts say it is appropriate based on the spread of the virus being contained."
Mayor Gimenez says the opening of beaches would be discussed with beachside city officials and neighboring counties.
Mayor Gelber tells CBS4 what that would entail, "We've got to have increase capacity for testing and surveillance and we don't have that. Until we have that, it is going to be really hard to certainly rush to something, but even just to phase-in."
Up the road in Fort Lauderdale, Mayor Dean Trantalis says they're continuing to comply with the governor's directive to keep their beaches closed.
They are analyzing how to partially reopen businesses and amenities once it is appropriate.
In a statement, Mayor Trantalis said, "We have yet to reach the expected peak of COVID-19 infections in our area. That will likely not occur until May 3. The current emergency orders remain in effect in our efforts to stem the spread of the virus and prevent more deaths."
As far as when these reopenings would happen, in Miami-Dade, Mayor Gimenez says there is no start date at the moment. He's still listening to medical experts and will hold a virtual town hall meeting with residents sometime next week.
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