Miami-Dade’s largest cities to require masks in public as COVID-19 numbers spike
The COVID-19 crisis in Miami-Dade is taking a bad turn as the number of confirmed infections and hospitalizations swell, prompting government leaders from City Hall to Tallahassee to urge the use of face masks and plead for people to practice social distancing.
Days after the state’s top health official quietly issued a health advisory recommending people wear masks in public, some of Miami-Dade’s largest cities on Monday announced plans to require face masks in public almost all the time, meaning violators risk being charged with a misdemeanor. Mayors acknowledged the measure won’t be easy to enforce.
Several more cities pledged to beef up enforcement of existing rules meant to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus in a partially reopened economy, where people can go to the beach, restaurants, hair salons, shopping malls and strip clubs under the county’s “New Normal” guidelines.
Even as local commerce remains in first gear, infection and hospitalization rates are surging. The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in Miami-Dade hit a record high Monday, and the number of people in intensive care units is on the rise.
The alarming figures underscore a renewed urgency to get residents to strictly adhere to social distancing rules, capacity restrictions and mask requirements while reigniting commerce to keep an ailing economy above water.
It does not appear that county or city leaders are prepared to shut down businesses or reissue stay-at-home orders. Not yet.
“I think we owe it to our community and livelihood of members of our community to try everything we can before we reverse to a shutdown again,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “Obviously, if we get to a point where our healthcare system is going to be overrun, we’ll have to consider everything on the table.”
Masks in public
At a Monday press conference for members of the local League of Cities, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced a new rule requiring anyone within city limits to wear masks in public, except for people doing rigorous exercise. Several of the county’s most densely populated cities, including Hialeah, Miami Gardens and Aventura, committed to implementing a similar regulation.
The announcement appeared to be sudden and not anticipated in Miami City Hall — city administrators have not drafted an emergency order outlining the rules. City Manager Art Noriega is expected to sign the document in the coming days.
In a reflection of the parochial nature of political leadership across Miami-Dade’s 35 local governments, it was unclear exactly which cities were agreeing follow Miami’s lead on mask rules. At the press conference, mayors of cities stood in several socially distanced rows behind the lectern and hollered their cities’ names as Suarez tried to clarify who was committing to a new mask rule.
Key Biscayne, North Miami Beach, Aventura and Miami Shores are on board. Even though Suarez included Miami Beach on the list, and the Herald initially included that city on the list, Beach officials later clarified they are not mandating masks in public. At least not yet.
The confusion resembled earlier days in the COVID-19 pandemic when state, county and city officials grappled with how to create definitive public health policies across a patchwork of local governments, from closures to reopenings.
The question of mandating masks came days after Scott Rivkees, Florida’s surgeon general, recommended “all individuals in Florida should wear face coverings in any setting where social distancing is not possible.” The advisory also recommended against social gatherings of more than 50 people.
Under a punishing Monday afternoon sun outside Miami City Hall, Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert said he came to the press conference from a funeral for someone who died from COVID-19, and he has another one to attend later in the week. He explained that the mask measure and stricter enforcement are urgent because “there are real consequences to us not following the rules.”
“This is what has to happen. We have to become more serious about this,” he said. “We know that the natural and probable consequence of more higher positive infections are more hospitalizations. The more hospitalizations you have, the more people eventually will go on ventilators. The more people go on ventilators, the more people will die eventually. That’s why we’re speaking out on this.”
Suarez said city code enforcement and police officers will embark on a campaign to force the public and business owners to comply or face a misdemeanor charge. He acknowledged it will be difficult to patrol.
“Without a doubt, enforcement will be a challenge,” Suarez said.
Suarez faced criticism after he was seen twice in recent weeks at Swan, a swanky Design District restaurant that was shut down over the weekend for hosting crowds of people without masks. On Monday, he faced a barrage of questions from reporters, so many that Miami commissioner and League of Cities president Keon Hardemon stepped up to the lectern to urge reporters to direct more questions to any of the other 14 mayors who were present and to follow up with Suarez afterward.
The mayor acknowledged posing for a photograph without wearing a mask himself was an “error on my part.”
“I obviously take a lot of pictures, and I try in every single instance to comply with the rules,” he said. “In that particular case, rules were not complied with, and that’s something that I regret, understanding that I’m an example. I have to try to set the standard in every moment and every occasion, and that’s an obligation that I have as mayor. So I regret taking the picture in that way.”
Record number of hospitalizations
The announcement of the tougher rules landed on a day that saw more alarming COVID-19 statistics for Miami-Dade County. A daily survey of hospitals across Miami-Dade found a new record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 776 patients with the disease occupying hospital beds. That’s about 30 percent more than the 591 COVID patients Miami-Dade hospitals reported just two weeks ago.
On Sunday, Jackson Memorial Hospital officials reported the facility had admitted 182 patients who had tested positive for COVID-19, the highest number since April. A spokesman for the hospital said a higher proportion of patients testing positive are younger than patients in April and May, a trend cited by Gov. Ron DeSantis in recent comments about an “erosion of social distancing” among younger people. At Jackson, the share of patients who need intensive care is smaller than earlier in the spring.
Countywide, patients with serious COVID symptoms are surging. The 157 COVID patients listed as in intensive care is 62 percent more than there were two weeks ago.
The surge in hospitalizations tracks a rebound in coronavirus infections in the general population, too. The two-week average for positive COVID tests crossed the 10 percent mark on Sunday, the first time it crossed that threshold since County Mayor Carlos Gimenez lifted closure orders on businesses on May 18 and imposed “New Normal” rules requiring social distancing and face coverings.
Breaking the 10% barrier officially moved that metric into a “Red Flag” status on the county’s daily COVID dashboard. The general trend in cases has been in the Red Flag area since May 31, as daily cases have been increasing overall during the month of June.
Hospitals have reported hundreds of empty beds even as COVID admissions grow, allowing that metric to retain its “Green Flag” designation.
The trends extend beyond South Florida. In the past two weeks, Florida has seen the number of new coronavirus cases added to its dashboard by the Health Department increase, often breaking records. The State Health Department registered 4,049 additional cases on Saturday, the highest number the state has recorded.
DeSantis has attributed the increase in new cases to increased testing. However, the COVID Tracking Project, a data collection website run by volunteers who have rated Florida’s data transparency as exemplary, said on its Twitter account Friday that the increase in cases could not be attributed to the increase in tests, since last week tests decreased by 3%, while new cases grew 88%.
Miami-Dade had seen encouraging trends in COVID-19 statistics in May that Gimenez cited when he began lifting the closure orders he imposed in March. But those trends have reversed as hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 have increased and accelerated through June.
A large portion of the coronavirus test results are also showing positive results across the county. Miami-Dade’s goal is to keep the two-week average for positive results below 10%.
“The past few days we have been seeing fairly consistent evidence of increased community transmission,” Mary Jo Trepka, an epidemiologist at Florida International University, told the Herald last week. “This week, things have not gone in the right direction.”
Stricter enforcement
On Monday, Gimenez issued a statement suggesting he may follow the cities’ lead and impose a stricter countywide mask rule. The current Miami-Dade emergency regulation, which applies inside city limits, requires masks inside businesses and at parks, beaches and other outdoor areas when social distancing isn’t possible.
“Wearing masks outdoors in congested cities like Miami, North Miami Beach, Aventura, Hialeah and Miami Gardens is a good idea. I commend the mayors of those cities for making that a requirement,” Gimenez said in the statement. “I will be meeting with the County’s medical experts tomorrow to discuss whether the use of masks in less congested unincorporated areas of the County is necessary.”
Throughout the coronavirus crisis, there’s been friction between Gimenez and mayors from larger cities, who rejected some county reopening timetables in favor of later lifting of rules within municipal limits. While the county can impose emergency rules cities must follow, cities can issue stricter ones. Gimenez, who trumpeted last week’s shutdown of a restaurant violating COVID rules while Miami’s mayor was inside, urged cities to focus on enforcement.
“None of this means anything unless the New Normal rules are enforced by the County’s 34 municipalities,” he said.
In some cases, people have taken to social media to shame businesses that are not complying.
A new Instagram account, @covid_305, recently began posting videos of restaurants and hotels that appear to be flouting social distancing and mask rules. Posts showed a pool at the SLS Hotel surrounded by partygoers dancing shoulder to shoulder. On Sunday after the videos emerged, the SLS closed its Hyde Beach day club.
Proprietors are struggling to balance a customer-is-always-right policy with the threat of social and legal pressure from disgruntled patrons with cellphones and police who could arrive and close down the business. The “New Normal” rules are the result of local business owners eager to reopen their doors after being shuttered for months. As people disregard the rules, political leaders are emphasizing personal responsibility in their pleas for people to comply. Officials are not publicly questioning the state’s decision to end shutdowns and reopen.
After Monday’s press conference, a reporter asked Suarez if he thought Florida’s economy reopened too soon. The mayor stared at the ground silently for about 15 seconds before responding. He did not give a direct answer, saying it is a delicate balance to navigate between a listing economy and a persistent public health threat. He referenced the differing stances he and Gimenez have held through the pandemic — a divide that has extended to mayors of other cities who have announced initiatives with Miami.
“I got criticized when I was lagging behind Miami-Dade County, saying that it was something personal,” he said. “It wasn’t. It’s just, we’re looking at the data, and the data was disturbing. The data continues to be disturbing, so we’re continuing to take actions to the best that we can.”
This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 4:58 PM.
