Movie theaters closer to reopening in Miami-Dade after Phase 2 change from DeSantis
Movie theaters may be reopening just before summer ends in Miami-Dade after Mayor Carlos Gimenez joined Gov. Ron DeSantis in Miami to cheer the governor’s decision to move all of South Florida into “Phase 2” of the state’s COVID plan.
The new status for Broward and Miami-Dade counties mostly clears the way for classrooms to reopen in the public school system, because county closure rules on businesses in the two counties haven’t always tracked with the state framework.
The DeSantis administration this week lifted its statewide closure rules on bars. With the governor next to him at a press conference, Gimenez thanked DeSantis for giving the county “flexibility” and said bars would remain closed in Miami-Dade.
Gimenez also said he was ready to consider reopening movie theaters, bowling alleys, playhouses and other entertainment venues, with new operating rules coming as early as Monday, when the Phase 2 switch officially occurs.
“We’re still not out of the woods yet,” he said. “But we’re getting close.”
The preview of more Miami-Dade reopenings raises the stakes for Gimenez as he runs for Congress as the Republican nominee for Florida’s 26th Congressional District. The term-limited mayor has pointed to improving COVID statistics at hospitals and testing centers to justify the county’s second try at looser rules after an alarming surge in coronavirus cases.
Miami-Dade hospitals reported 556 COVID cases on Friday, the lowest since mid-June, and about 6% of COVID tests came back positive over the last two weeks, down from 14% a month ago.
Gimenez came under criticism after lifting most business restrictions in May, rules he had imposed using emergency powers two months earlier at the start of the COVID crisis. After dipping through May, coronavirus cases spiked again and hospitals were flooded with COVID patients through June.
That prompted a second set of closures by Gimenez before and shortly after the July Fourth holiday, including ordering restaurant dining rooms to close, along with theaters and entertainment venues, and imposed a 10 p.m. curfew countywide that remains in effect through the weekend.
Gimenez lifted the dining room ban late last month, reopened casinos, and the curfew rolls back to 11 p.m. on Monday. He didn’t rule out the new set of reopening orders covering strip clubs, which were closed the day after movie theaters were instructed to shut down on July 2.
“We’ll talk about that on Monday,” Gimenez said.
Broward reopened its movie theaters and bowling alleys June 15 at 50% capacity. A statement Friday from Broward said no changes were coming Monday when the county moves into the state’s Phase 2 designation, and that bars would remain closed. “We want to make sure we use common sense when reopening Broward County,” Mayor Dale Holness said.
For O Cinema, the art house movie theater on Miami Beach, Miami-Dade’s preparing to allow screenings again has management contemplating the best way to let the show go on for the first time since March.
O Cinema surveyed its members in June and found only about half of the respondents were ready to sit down in a theater again. “That’s not too good,” said Vivian Marthell, a co-founder of the non-profit cinema house.
The county’s existing mask order would require everyone inside to have a facial covering during the show. Those rules are waived in restaurants when people are eating and drinking, and the same kind of exception would be needed for concession sales at theaters in Miami-Dade.
Marthell said O Cinema staff is ready to implement a reopening plan that would require six feet separation between seats, though families could sit together. They’re considering single-serve popcorn as a sanitation precaution, planning temperature checks for everyone inside and extended break times between showings to let a janitorial crew perform deep cleanings.
“We’re very eager to reopen,” she said. “At the same time, safety first.”
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 6:43 PM.