Amid new ‘zero tolerance’ COVID rules, Miami Beach closes restaurants with bar service
Miami Beach has temporarily shut down four restaurants since last Friday, when Miami-Dade County announced it would take a “zero tolerance” approach on businesses that violate coronavirus rules governing their ability to reopen following extended COVID-19 closures.
One restaurant per day was closed between Friday and Monday for serving drinks at their bars in violation of county rules. They are: Lucali, NaiYaRa, Sunny’s and Harat’s Pub. All except Lucali were forced to close for 24 hours under new measures imposed by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez.
The closures mark the first time since restaurants were allowed to reopen in Miami Beach on May 27 that the city shut down any restaurant for an extended time. Previously, the city has forced restaurants violating the curfew to close early.
A growing number of coronavirus cases, coupled with increasing hospitalizations, have worried government leaders in Miami-Dade County and led some on social media to publicly shame businesses or individuals who have been filmed seemingly breaking rules or not promoting safe interactions. State health officials reported a new single-day record of confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday with 5,508, surpassing the previous record of 4,049 Saturday.
“[We] don’t want to punish any business, especially ones that have already suffered, but given the recent spikes we have no options,” said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber. “No one wants to go backwards.”
On Saturday, three Miami restaurants were shut down as part of a crackdown after social media videos circulated showing large crowds and little mask use. The three restaurants were Astra in Wynwood, Swan in the Design District and El Secreto Bar & Grill in Little Havana.
The Miami Beach hotel SLS closed its Hyde Beach day club Sunday after someone filmed a party there.
“The SLS is no longer doing pool parties and have closed Hyde Beach (poolside concession),” a city spokeswoman said. “Code [Compliance] did visit based on an undated social media pic — no violations observed at the time and reopening guidelines were reiterated.”
A similar video circulated from the Fontainebleau, showing guests standing too close with little mask use, but the city spokeswoman said the hotel “has not had any pool parties since reopening and has hired additional staff to restrict the number of hotel guests allowed at any one time in their pool.”
Code Compliance has visited the hotel to communicate the city’s reopening guidelines.
“These are unprecedented times and we take these matters very seriously,” a Fontainebleau spokesman said. “We have made several changes throughout our pool decks to ensure we are exceeding all health and safety requirements. We have doubled the amount of security, eliminated access and cabana sales to non-hotel guests, and enacted strict capacity limits. The vast majority of our guests have adhered to our extensive safety protocols across the resort.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 4:49 PM.
.JPG)