Day 3 of COVID-19 lock down: more closures, scooter ban, virtual meetings

Updated: Another day of the coronavirus outbreak, another day of more closings.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered the closures of all non-essential retail stores, malls and casinos Wednesday, adding them to the list of businesses that are not allowed to open their doors to more than eight people at a time.

And it was announced late Wednesday that the county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) will close its Permitting and Inspection Center (PIC) at 11805 SW 26 St. on Thursday and Friday after an employee tested positive for coronavirus. But it is expected to reopen on Monday. Everything else? Who knows?

Employees who were in close contact have been personally notified, even though the infected worker has been not been in the building in 13 days, according to a county spokeswoman. “RER has already conducted a cleaning of the employee’s work area and surrounding area, in an abundance of caution, they will conduct a deep cleaning of the entire facility,” reads a statement.

Appointments previously scheduled with DERM will be conducted by phone. Customers will be called at their scheduled appointment time. Department of Health services and Saturday roofing inspections will not be available.

The latest number of positively tested infected people in Miami Wednesday was 77. That is up from 32 on Tuesday and 13 on Monday. And it’s almost as many as the 80 in Broward, which was considered an early cluster. There are another 954 tests, at least, that we still don’t know the results of and all experts say the number of infected will grow.

Streets were already pretty empty on Day 3 of the #StayHome movement to curb the community spread of the COVID-19 virus, as evidenced by this shot of 37th Avenue at the edge of Coral Gables at 5 p.m. Suddenly, traffic isn’t a problem.

Some cynics speculate that Gimenez was urged to do close stores and shopping centers for the retail industry and his friends at Aventura Mall, who can’t claim any losses to their insurance companies or the federal government — which they were having anyway because foot traffic was abysmal — if they are not shut down. Others say it’s a day late and a dollar short. Because everything should have been shut down all at once, not piecemeal. It’s a matter of public safety.

On Monday, public schools closed and people with non-essential government jobs who could work from home were told to work from home. Private companies were asked to do the same with their employees. Restaurants, clubs, bars and whatever cabarets are still left were told to close at 11 p.m. and venues had to cut their capacity by half. Miami-Dade Commission Chairwoman Audrey Edmonson cancelled all county meetings for the week, including the zoning meeting on Thursday that would have been the third try to remove the covenant on the golf course property to build homes.

On Tuesday, the restaurants, clubs and bars were told to close their dine-in options completely and only have drive-thru, pick-up or delivery service for food. But you could still see groups hanging out at St. Patrick’s Day parties like at the Kendall Flanigan’s. Movies and other entertainment venues were also shut down. Miami-Dade Courts — both criminal an civil — shut down after an employee tested positive, postponing all but the most urgent hearings and proceedings until the end of the month.

A curfew was set in North Miami Beach and anyone out after 10 p.m. was subject to being stopped by police. Exceptions would be made for first responders and medical workers or anyone headed to and from work.

On Wednesday, finally, Miami-Dade libraries — which are known to be Petri dishes on any regular day — were closed until further notice.

You know it’s serious when La Carreta on Calle Ocho is a ghost town.

Gimenez also signed an executive order prohibiting the gathering of more than 10 people in any parks, beaches or recreation facilities owned and operated by Miami-Dade County. It does not apply to municipalities, but many of them are adopting the same rules. He also closed any private school that hadn’t shut down on its own already. The mayor also recommends “people practice strict social distancing of at least 6 feet between individuals for all gatherings of 10 or fewer people.” Ladra wants to see what that looks like — especially on a Metro bus, since buses and trains are still running on a normal Monday through Friday schedule.

The mayor also signed another executive order overnight prohibiting the rental of common-use mopeds, scooters and micro-mobility devices or bicycles from “public docking stations for private use through online applications, websites or software for point-to-point trips.” You can keep using your own bike or scooter. It’s the ones you rent that are banned ’cause they’re not typically disinfected between users. Yuck! Can’t you hear all their future sales and stock prices dropping already?

“All of this is in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Gimenez said, adding that you can still enjoy the park — all by yourself. “You cannot have a party at a park.”

So just move it to a train car because the Metrorail is still operating! Don’t worry: They got hand sanitizing stations at all Metrorail and Metromover stops and cleaning crews are disinfecting all transit vehicles daily — is that one whole time every day? — while focusing attention on high-contact areas! Or try air surfing in the middle of the car without touching any balance bars.

Seems inevitable that the county would shut down its public transportation — especially now that we have nowhere to go. But the way this lockdown has rolled out, maybe tomorrow?

“I don’t have to tell you that our community has experienced many changes coming at us very quickly with schools closing until April 15, the shut down of community centers for seniors and the closure of restaurants and other large establishments,” the mayor said in his daily video message. “All of these changes are coming at us very rapidly. But at very step, the limits and closures I have ordered are meant to protect our community from the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible.”

Gimenez said Miami-Dade Police would be looking for establishments that violate the order and owners will be told to follow the law or face a criminal second degree misdemeanor.

Also Wednesday, Regions banks said they would be offering only drive-through services and the lobby would only open for appointments.

And Miami city commissioners were trying to get permission from Gov. Ron DeSantis to hold a virtual meeting with all the electeds in their own self-isolation. The meetings would be for COVID-19 related and other emergency issues, said Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, not for regular agenda or zoning items, which have been put off for now.

After all, Mayor Francis Suarez is still in self-quarantine after testing positive for the virus on Thursday.

Carlos Gimenez, coronavirus, COVID-19, Miami-Dade

Day 3 of COVID-19 lock down: more closures, scooter ban, virtual meetings added by Ladra on March 18, 2020
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