Miami-Dade mayor forming plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions. Parks first on agenda

Pointing to encouraging statistics from area hospitals, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Monday announced an effort to map out an easing of COVID-19 restrictions and allow a “return to as normal a life as possible” without sacrificing public health.

“We’re seeing a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, starting with the number of hospitalizations that are steadying in Miami-Dade County,” Gimenez said in a video address.

“Starting later this week,” he said, “we’ll be working with community leaders and health experts to establish a deliberate plan to allow people in our county to return to as normal a life as possible without jeopardizing the health of our community and our most vulnerable residents.”

In a memo to Miami-Dade commissioners later in the day, Gimenez announced an online town hall for Wednesday to discuss what could be the first phase of his “Moving to a New Normal” plan. He said the focus of that meeting would be “parks and open spaces.”

A plan to make a plan

Gimenez offered no details, and was not available for an interview. His office sent out an afternoon statement trying to tamp down speculation that Miami-Dade’s unprecedented restrictions on commerce and recreation may be easing soon.

“There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding this afternoon regarding what’s going on,” the statement said. “There is no plan in place yet. No timeline has been established. It’s a plan to make a plan.”

In making his announcement, Gimenez pointed to hospitalization numbers showing county hospitals aren’t yet overwhelmed by coronavirus cases. The daily surveys by the county showed 626 COVID-19 patients Sunday at more than two dozen hospitals, down from 710 on Friday. More than half of the hospitals’ intensive-care beds remain available.

A leading model developed at the University of Washington still predicts the worst is yet to come in Florida, with peak hospitalizations expected to arrive May 3. The model does not predict hospitals will run out of intensive-care beds, assuming social-distancing measures continue statewide.

Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease researcher at Florida International University, cautioned against Miami-Dade lifting restrictions too early, since it’s the social-distancing measures that prevent COVID-19 from spreading and overwhelming hospitals.

“It’s a little too early to talk about lifting the restrictions in the way we would like to lift them,” she said. “We’re still dealing with the reality of people being out in the community, incubating the virus.”

Miami-Dade still leads the state in known COVID-19 infections, with more than 7,000 cases and 128 deaths, according to the county’s latest figures. Cases continue to grow, but at a slower rate. The latest three-day average in Miami-Dade has cases up about 4%, compared to 7% a week ago. Completed tests are up about 7%, compared to 11% last week.

The floating of relaxed rules by Gimenez, a Republican congressional candidate, also arrives as President Donald Trump and some Democratic governors announced their own efforts to begin looking at easing COVID-19 restrictions and reopen parts of the economy. The Trump administration named a Council to Re-Open America that includes the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner.

Using emergency powers on March 19, Gimenez ordered all beaches and parks to close countywide, including those within city limits. It was his sixth emergency order, following decrees closing restaurants, banning rented scooters and bikes, and briefly trying to limit beach and park gatherings to fewer than 10 people. Fourteen more emergency orders followed, the most recent one coming April 9 and requiring face coverings at grocery stores and other businesses that are still open. Miami-Dade commissioners voted April 7 to ratify all the orders that had been issued up until then.

The beach and parks order came during the height of spring break, and during national backlash against scenes of crowded beaches across Florida. Gimenez followed up March 21 with an order closing all boat ramps and marinas, with limited exceptions.

Francis Suarez, Miami’s mayor, said restrictions on parks and boat ramps are the two rules that get the most pushback or questions from people he encounters. He said relaxing restrictions on both is “worth looking into” if marine police can effectively enforce rules against the raft-ups and seaside parties by boats that sparked Gimenez’s original marina order.

“Social distancing is working,” Suarez said. “Stay-at-home orders are working. ... What we don’t want to see is [an acceleration of COVID-19 cases] in our community when we’ve worked so hard to get this thing under control.”

Marty, the FIU researcher, said parks, beaches and other wide-open spaces don’t pose public health hazards if local authorities can enforce social-distancing rules.

“They closed parks and beaches because people don’t know how to limit themselves,” she said. “On so many recommendations, we go overboard. There’s a park right in front of my house. Usually there’s no more than three people in it. If people are maintaining social distancing at the beach or in the park, it’s really not a problem.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 7:03 PM.