Miami City Hall limiting capacity, requiring masks due to COVID omicron surge
Fewer members of the public will be allowed to sit inside Miami City Hall while commissioners meet Thursday, and all will be required to wear masks, under COVID protocols being reinstated as the omicron variant surges.
Administrators announced on Tuesday that until further notice, the city will revert to rules for public meetings first introduced in the fall of 2020, when local governments were forced to meet in person after Gov. Ron DeSantis allowed an emergency order permitting virtual meetings to expire. For the first several months of the coronavirus pandemic, the governor allowed municipal governments to hold public meetings via video calls.
On Thursday, several seats in the chamber will be taped off to enforce social distancing. Acrylic dividers have been reinstalled on the dais to create barriers between commissioners and senior administrators. Masks will be mandated inside the building.
If the chamber is full, people who want to address the commission during public comment will have the option to do so from a laptop computer in the City Hall lobby. Overflow seats will be available under a tent outside City Hall’s front doors, where a television will be playing the live meeting.
People can submit public comments through an online form on the city’s website, www.miamigov.com/meetinginstructions.
Commission meetings are broadcast live on the city’s various social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and the city website, www.miamigov.com/tv. Comcast customers inside city limits can watch the meeting on channel 77.
This story was originally published January 12, 2022 at 10:02 AM.
