COVID19 spike in Miami-Dade makes Mayor Carlos Gimenez warn businesses

An increase in positive COVID19 cases and hospitalizations in Miami-Dade has caused some concern and Mayor Carlos Gimenez — blaming the police abuse protests in the wake of the George Floyd murder because he has to deflect his own responsibility — has issued a warning for businesses: Follow the “new normal” safety rules or police will shut you down.

He also announced increased enforcement to ensure that businesses adhere to specifications about the use of face masks and social distancing, among other new safety measures meant to contain the spread of coronavirus.

“We expected to see an increase as we started to pen up the economy and we have more testing going on, however we weren’t counting on protests the past few weeks which likely have contributed somewhat to the uptick in positives,” Gimenez says in a video message recorded Wednesday, adding that most of the new positives were younger and asymptomatic.

“But I worry about their parents and grandparents because they are the most susceptible to getting ill from the virus,” the mayor said, warning people not to let our guard down and asking us to be chivatos against rule breakers.

“It’s up to you, our residents, to make this a safe transition,” Gimenez said. “If you’re not going to take personal responsibility we are certainly going to call you out for it because lives are at stake here.”

The Florida Department of Health COVID19 dashboard shows that we’ve had the most reported daily cases in the past week than we have in the last month, including more than 1,000 just on Monday and Tuesday. Last Friday saw 571 cases reported in one day.

“Our goal is to open up our economy and to do so safely…to make this transition a successful one. Now its up to you to follow the rules. If you see a person or business that’s not following the rules, call 305-4-POLICE to report it so that we can follow up.”

He said Miami-Dade Police spent more than a month checking on thousands of businesses to ensure they were following rules for required masks and social distancing. “And there’s been very good compliance,” Gimenez said.

“However, we see some people get a little too comfortable about not wearing masks when they go to stores and restaurants and not following social distancing rules. We expect businesses to monitor those situations and not let that happen,” he says in the video that last almost three minutes. “Rest assured, if you’re a business owner and you decide that it’s not your problem, we’re going to make it your problem, because our education campaign is over.”

“Businesses that are not abiding by the rules will be shut down.”

Wanna bet?

Remember Flanigan’s on St. Patrick’s Day? The Kendall eatery was packed late into the holiday, in violation of the county’s curfew and rules to have only 50% capacity.

Did they get disciplined? No. Word is that Jim Flanigan, CEO of the family-owned chain, got a spot on the mayor’s COVID19 ad-hoc advisory group. And, word is, that’s why Miami-Dade skipped the Phase I reopening capacity of 25% capacity for restaurants, like the rest of the state was forced to do. Even though you can’t have more than 10 kids per group in summer camp, Gimenez let Miami-Dade restaurants go from zero to Phase II, with a 50% capacity cap from the get-go. Huh?

Ladra doesn’t know where Gimenez is going to take from the budget to pay for the beefed up patrols by police officers-turned-babysitters who are now going to have make sure businesses are following the social distancing rules. Or is he going to take them off other duties?

“We need everybody to take personal responsibility and follow the rules,” Gimenez said.

Maybe the mayor should take personal responsibility for his part in this increase in COVID-19 cases.

Carlos Gimenez, COVID19

COVID19 spike in Miami-Dade makes Mayor Carlos Gimenez warn businesses added by Ladra on June 18, 2020
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