Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez told “America’s News HQ” Sunday that he decided to close the county’s beaches for the weekend of July 4, less than a month after the reopening, because it is ” very concerned “about the recent increase in coronavirus cases. .
“It was a difficult decision, but I had to make it,” said Giménez. “I did not want overcrowding on the beaches with young people, and we have seen a tremendous increase in positive youth cases and that is very concerning.”
Miami-Dade County announced that its beaches would be closed July 3-7.
Giménez told “America’s News HQ” that the parks will close at 8 pm and that “there will be no fireworks going out of the parks.”
He continued: “You can see the fireworks from your car or your house, but we are not going to have crowds of people.”
He also said that public pools and hotel pools will be closed during the holiday weekend because otherwise “we will see crowds of people in the pools.”
He added: “We have always closed our bars here in Miami-Dade County, we never opened them.”
According to Giménez, “These are all steps I’ve taken to start reducing the infection rate here in Miami-Dade County, especially among youth because there has been a tremendous increase among youth.”
As of Sunday, his state had reported more than 141,000 coronavirus cases and 3,400 deaths, according to the Florida Department of Health.
In Miami-Dade County, more than 33,000 coronavirus cases have been reported, with more than 950 deaths.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday that he agreed with Giménez’s decision to close the beaches for the holiday weekend.
He said “mass congregation” was a “problem” during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We know that our beaches, particularly on vacation weekends, are areas of mass congregation. So while it may be true that it is more dangerous inside than outside, it is more dangerous to be in places where there are massive congregations than in places where there are not, “Suarez said.” I think that is what the county mayor was trying to do. I think he made the right decision. ”
Giménez noted that there was an increase in younger people who contracted COVID-19 and warned that it could pose a “big problem” for people with underlying medical conditions. He pointed out another “problem,” that they could “get infected and take it to their parents or grandparents and then to parents and grandparents, this disease … is very, very dangerous.”
FLORIDA PROHIBITS ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN BARS AS CORONAVIRUS CASES RISE AMONG MINOR DEMOGRAPHICS IN THE STATE
He added: “We have also seen an increase in hospitalizations. It has constantly disappeared and younger people also go to the hospital, so they are not invulnerable to this. “
Giménez also said: “We need to practice social distancing. We need to put on our masks when we are inside. Outdoors, if you can’t keep a six-foot social distance, put on the mask, wash your hands, disinfect your hands, don’t put your hands on your face, and if we just take those simple steps, then we can start reducing the infection rate here in Miami-Dade. ”
He stressed that “I cannot control it myself” and said that “we all have to control it” by practicing those guidelines.
Broward County teamed up with Miami-Dade to close beaches over the July 4 weekend, Sun-Sentinel reported, adding that Palm Beach County will likely do the same.
Broward County reportedly planned to close its beaches July 3-5.
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Palm Beach County Mayor Dave Kerner told the Sun-Sentinel Sunday that it would be “very irresponsible” to keep the beaches open there “in light of the closing of the beaches in Broward and Miami-Dade counties by the end July 4th weekend. ”
Fox News’s Vandana Rambaran, Heather Lacy and Eric Shawn contributed to this report.
