Gov. Ron DeSantis Approves Phase 1 Reopening For Miami-Dade And Broward
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade and Broward counties can begin to reopen on Monday, May 18, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in an Executive Order issued Thursday.
The two counties join the rest of the state in the first phase of reopening, which will include limited restaurants, warehouses, manufacturing, office buildings and a specific list of businesses.
"Miami-Dade and Broward have both submitted plans that I've approved," DeSantis said at a news conference in Doral. "Today we take another important step for a very important part of the state of Florida."
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Broward Mayor Dale Holness joined Gov. DeSantis at Thursday's news conference
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Miami-Dade and Broward counties will have different approaches to reopening, but both counties are working together on key issues, DeSantis said.
"Everyone knows there us a big difference between Miami-Dade and Broward counties," he said. "This is a very diverse area."
"Today we take another important step for a very important start for the state of Florida," DeSantis said, stating that southeast Florida "flattened the curve" and is ready to enter Phase 1.
DeSantis told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that his decision was based in part on improving health conditions during the pandemic.
"If you look at new cases and those testing positive in Miami-Dade County it is far below in the last 10days and compare that with what we had at the beginning of April where we had 500 cases a day. In ICU two weeks ago in Miami on 4/29 we had 197 patients with COVID-19 in ICU. Last night we had 126. That's a decrease of 36% in COVID-19 positive patients," he said.
WATCH Entire News Conference Here
On Wednesday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez released a 184-page guide for reopening, called "The New Normal."
The highly detailed document lays out the rules and guidelines for restaurants, salons, retail stores, office buildings, shopping centers and other non-essential businesses that plan to begin a gradual and limited reopening on Monday. The document, which is a color-coded reopening phasing guide, calls for putting "stringent capacity and safety rules in place."
DeSantis also indicated that he would authorize a 50% cap on capacity at Miami-Dade County restaurants, double the state's current 25% cap.
Spas, bars, gyms, beaches, movie theaters, schools, tattoo shops and other businesses will not be allowed to reopen.
"We will not be opening spas, bars, gyms, unfortunately beaches for those out there. We will not be opening movie theaters, bowling alleys, pools, tattoo shops and massage parlors."
Gimenez was making reference to a few protestors who showed up outside the DeSantis news conference in Doral. One demonstrator held a sign saying "Open the Beaches." Another person yelled out, "We are drowning. Open up. We can't pay our bills."
People will be required to maintain social distancing of at least six feet and to continue wearing face masks.
DeSanrtis said, "We cannot take our eye off the ball."
Mayor Gimenez noted, "You will still need to practice social distancing and keep a distance of 6 feet and wear a face mask when indoors and wash your hands frequently. And you most take responsibility and realize that you could be passing this along to other people who don't know about it."
Within Miami-Dade, some cities such as Miami Beach, Miami, Hialeah and Miami Gardens are working together on a coordinated reopening that would begin next Wednesday May 20 for businesses and delaying the opening of restaurants to May 27.
