Miami-Dade may start fines over wearing masks

Too many breaking rules, mayor says

– Packed protests and parties. People refusing to wear masks or socially distance. Young people who have not heeded the warnings.

The public has been irresponsible, making the number of new coronavirus cases keep skyrocketing across South Florida, medical experts said Monday in a meeting with Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. The mayor says there won’t be any more shutdowns for now, but said the county this week will consider starting to fine those who don’t wear masks outside.

Gimenez said an item will be proposed to county commissioners that would allow civil citations to be issued for violating emergency orders, making it easier for inspectors to give tickets and close businesses.

“I think we need to send the message,” Gimenez said. “And that’s why we’re asking for that tool that makes it easy to send that message, so you get a $50 ticket when you’re not wearing a mask outdoors.”

Florida reported another milestone with a new one-day high on

Sunday of 15,300 coronavirus cases, breaking both all state and national records since the start of the pandemic. Gimenez and the medical experts were reminding the public that everyone has to follow the county’s rules to curb the spread of the virus.

From protests to parties, people not following social distancing rules are to blame for the spike in numbers, officials said.

A week after he began to shut the doors for restaurants and other indoor spaces, Gimenez said he has no further plans to shut businesses down as of Monday. But he warned things could change.

Over the course of 10 days, Gimenez said he will monitor the numbers to see how effective his partial shutdown may be in reducing the positive numbers.

“We’re not there yet, but everything is on the table,” Gimenez said. “The simple act of just closing indoor dining room spaces has caused great controversy, and unfortunately it did. But there is no question that it was a necessary step.”

Cracking down on those not following the orders is paramount, Gimenez said. On Sunday, the Miami-Dade Police De

partment conducted 6,000 inspections to ensure businesses are adhering to the rules.

Gimenez said he hoped the new code-enforcement item would pass Thursday, when the commission is set to hold a special meeting, and would take 10 days to take effect. The MiamiDade Board of County Commissioners’ meeting will have a public hearing and second reading for the ordinance Thursday morning. “And then we would be able to do a better job of enforcing the regulations and the rules that we have in place,” Gimenez said. “Right now, it takes a police officer to do that because it’s a criminal act.”

He encouraged citizens to call 305-4-POLICE to report any businesses that are violating the rules.

The virus is spreading through minuscule droplets in the air when people breathe, so the virus spreads rampantly in indoor spaces such as restaurants, said Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious diseases specialist at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

Marty said there is a need for increased testing, contract tracers and faster test results, but the public’s perception of the virus has to change, too. People have not taken it seriously, she said.

“They have not wanted to wear a mask, way too many people. And they have been in those closed spaces without doing the appropriate precautions; that’s the main reason we are where we are,” Marty said.

As Florida reported another 12,624 cases of the virus Monday, another looming challenge is how to balance keeping businesses open with slowing the virus’s spread, said Dr. Lillian Abbo, an infectious diseases specialist at University of Miami Health System.

“We’re just not repeating the same thing over and over just to give you trouble,” Abbo said. “We really need your help. Miami is now the epicenter of the pandemic. What we were seeing in Wuhan six months ago, five months ago, now we are there.”

The infection rate between May 31 and June 7 was below 10%, said Dr. Samir Elmir, the director of the Division of Environmental Health and Engineering of the Florida Department of Health in Miami-Dade County. From June 7 to June 28, the rate spiked to over 20%.

Elmir, citing Black Lives Matter protests in MiamiDade County, said these crowds were part of the problem, along with people dining indoors and gathering at bars, nightclubs and parties, despite them being banned. But with rolling back indoor dining, MiamiDade is headed in the right direction to slow the spread, Elmir said. “Most national medical experts and public health experts do agree that indoor gatherings and private parties are causing these problems. That’s exactly what has happened with us,” he said.

Carlos Migoya, the president and CEO of Jackson Health System, said Jackson Health System’s hospitals are currently at 90% of their capacity and have stopped elective surgeries to ensure there are enough beds for coronavirus patients.

At Jackson Health System, the number of coronavirus patients has doubled from 200 to 400 in the last 30 days, Migoya said. The percentage of patients hospitalized with the new virus is higher than before.

“When you have people out there that are aggressively, and I repeat aggressively, saying they don’t have to wear a mask … those are the kinds of people that are spreading this kind of disease and making it more difficult for hospitals,” Migoya said.

While ramped-up testing and contact tracing are necessary tools to combat the virus, Gimenez said these will not solve the problem unless people enforce the rules themselves.

“The reason is us. There’s no boogeyman. It’s us,” Gimenez said.