Fort Lauderdale To Begin Reopening On Monday, May 18th
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - Fort Lauderdale will begin its gradual reopening on Monday, May 18th.
"For several weeks, we have witnessed the level of COVID-19 infection in our community drastically decline. This encouraging trend prompted me to urge the governor and Broward County to allow us to enter the first phase of reopening. Late Thursday, they gave the necessary permission," said Mayor Dean Trantalis in a statement on Friday.
Restaurants will be allowed to reopen at 50 percent of their normal capacity.
Restaurants will need to space tables six feet apart. Bar counters, salad bars, and buffets will remain closed. No parties of more than 10 people are allowed. Disposable, single-use menus are required to the extent possible, as is a reservation-only system.
Retail stores will also be allowed to open at 50 percent capacity with restrictions.
Plastic shields at service counters are recommended. Changing rooms should be closed or extremely limited. Self-serve testers products aren't allowed. Stores are urged to have special hours for elderly and medically vulnerable customers.
Also allowed to open with restrictions and capacity caps are barbers, hair salons, and nail salons, museums, and drive-in theaters.
At hair salons, barbers, and nail salons, stations must be partitioned or separated by six feet and must be cleaned after every customer. Employees must wash their hands after each customer and will need to discard items like files or buffers immediately after use.
At all businesses, employees and customers must wear face coverings. Hand-sanitizer must be available throughout workplaces. Regular and intense cleaning will be required, particularly in high-traffic areas and bathrooms. Social distancing will continue to be mandatory.
"I know some businesses plan to take additional steps of their own volition and may open a little later just so they are certain they are completely ready," said Trantalis.
Condo associations will be allowed to open their gyms, community rooms, and any other amenity.
Bars, nightclubs, and major event venues will remain closed.
The mayor's announcement comes one day after Governor Ron DeSantis gave Miami-Dade and Broward counties the green light to begin Phase 1 reopenings on May 18th.
Trantalis said the number of positive test results in the county has dropped substantially when compared to the total tests administered. In the week ending April 11th, 13.4 percent of the tests were positive for the week. For the week ending May 9th, only 3.6 percent were positive for the week.
On Wednesday, which is the date for the most recent data, only 2 percent of the 2,155 tested administered in Broward County came back showing positive results for COVID-19 infection
The mayor said they will continue to monitor the situation and if they see a significant increase in COVID-19 rates they will take corrective measures.
Trantalis said in discussions with other coastal leaders and county officials the decision was made to hold off on reopening the beaches. Large crowds have gathered on beaches elsewhere in the state as they reopened, raising safety concerns.
"We made a collective decision that we did not want to risk reopening the beaches here at the same time as reopening restaurants and retail. Too much is at stake. We must get this right," he said.
He added that it may be possible to allow passive recreation on the beach within the next couple of weeks.
