In its fourth month, Miami-Dade’s COVID curfew officially moves to midnight 

Miami-Dade’s COVID-19 curfew, now in its fourth month, officially moved to midnight Monday, shaving an hour off the time when residents must be off the streets in most circumstances.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced the pending change Friday but held out the possibility of reversing course over the weekend if the county’s COVID-19 statistics turned sharply worse. That didn’t happen, and Gimenez’s office posted the final order that shifted the countywide curfew from 11 p.m. to midnight on Monday.

There are exceptions for people delivering food and other items, and workers traveling to businesses considered essential in the order, including media, healthcare workers and utility crews. There’s also a blanket exemption for people going to or from religious services and major sports events, a waiver first imposed to accommodate the Miami Hurricanes’ season opener at Hard Rock Stadium. There’s also an exemption for anyone walking a dog within 250 feet of their home.

Restaurants have been pushing against the curfew as an anchor on nighttime sales during the roughest stretch in history for Miami-Dade’s hospitality industry. Gimenez imposed the curfew in July, since approved by Miami-Dade commissioners, to discourage nighttime socializing, both at commercial establishments and at private homes.

The looser restriction comes two weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered bars and nightclubs to open statewide, and forced looser restrictions on indoor dining, too.

Miami-Dade’s primary COVID statistics — the share of coronavirus tests coming back positive and hospital admissions for COVID — remained mostly steady since then. On Monday, hospitals countywide reported 341 patients with COVID, the same number reported two weeks earlier. The day’s “positivity” rate for COVID tests was 4.3%, down from 6.8% two weeks ago. Ambulance calls for suspected COVID-19 cases have shown an uptick, with the one-week average up slightly, from 46 calls a day to 53.

Gimenez faces resistance to the curfew. Last week, Miami commissioners voted to stop enforcing the curfew before midnight. Esteban “Steve” Bovo Jr., a county commissioner running to succeed the term-limited Gimenez, opposes it. “I think the curfew should go,” he said at a campaign stop at the El Atlakat restaurant in Little Havana. “I don’t see how it helps anybody.”

At the event, one restaurant owner showed Bovo two $500 citations he’s received from county police for keeping his restaurant open too late. Marcos Torres said he didn’t want to share the name of his Miami restaurant for fear of more police attention. While DeSantis late last month suspended civil fines against individuals for violating COVID orders, penalties remain in place for businesses.

Torres said he can’t afford the fines at a time when he’s forced to send customers home early and is three months behind on rent. “Everybody’s broke,” he said.

Daniella Levine Cava, the other commissioner running for county mayor in the November runoff election, said she didn’t object to Gimenez’s shaving an hour off a curfew that still ends at 6 a.m. each day.

“I’m good with it,” said Levine Cava, who had urged Gimenez to impose lower seating capacity limits on restaurants during the summer spike in COVID cases. “I believe the county must do its part in reminding the public we need to continue to follow all health protocols.”

This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 6:28 PM.