Miami Beach orders public to wear masks at supermarkets
Wearing a black, skullemblazoned face mask in South Beach earned Monica Matteo Salinas puzzled looks from strangers just two weeks ago.
Nowadays, she swaps approving head nods with fellow Miami Beach residents walking their dogs or strolling the beach walk in their own makeshift masks as the coronavirus pandemic continued to severely curtail daily life.
“I’m actually surprised that everybody is not wearing something,” she said. “Why wouldn’t you err on the side of caution?”
The city agrees, and on Friday, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber — with a tropical-themed mask in hand — announced an emergency measure ordering customers and employees to wear face masks at grocery stores, restaurants and pharmacies at the risk of being turned away from the businesses.
“Our city manager will soon sign an order requiring — not suggesting, but requiring — that workers and customers in certain businesses, including food stores, restaurants, and pharmacies, must be wearing a face covering by Monday evening,” Gelber said in a video address Friday.
The order officially takes effect at midnight on Monday, he said.
The goal is to stop the “silent shedding of the virus,” Gelber told the Miami Herald before publicly announcing the order.
The city’s new emergency measure, signed into law Friday evening by City Manager Jimmy Morales, orders people to wear cloth masks, scarves, bandanas or other similar items to cover their faces. The order encourages residents not to purchase medical-grade masks.
Like the city’s other emergency orders, violating the mask rule is a criminal offense. But, like smoking indoors, the cops aren’t going to arrest someone for baring their face at Publix, Gelber said. The idea is for the businesses to enforce the rule and turn away customers who do not have masks.
“People will likely be turned away from a supermarket if they’re not in compliance,” Gelber told the Herald. “The idea is to treat this very seriously.”
The order is not meant to replace other safety guidelines like social distancing or staying home when possible, Gelber said. But taken together, the protocols make up a city-led response to the coronavirus unlike any other in Miami-Dade County and possibly all of Florida.
Gelber announced the order following a new conference where President Donald Trump he said the “voluntary” use of nonmedical masks has been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Remember, these masks reduce risk to others but don’t obviously eliminate it, so please continue to observe social distancing and other measures to keep you and your loved ones safe,” Gelber said.
Wearing a mask helps keep droplets, from sneezing or coughing, from escaping your mouth. It also can keep you from catching the virus from others, and it serves as a reminder not to touch your face.
The CDC, which previously stated healthy people did not need to wear masks, still advises the public to avoid purchasing N95 respirators or surgical masks, which are needed for front-line health professionals and are in short supply.
Officials in California have urged residents to wear masks, bandanas or scarves in public. But the use of a mask should not replace social distancing or handwashing practices.
“There are innumerable ways to comply without needing to purchase medical-grade masks, which candidly are best reserved for healthcare workers,” Gelber added. “Use the weekend to make some at home or just locate scarves and bandanas that might suffice.”
Matteo Salinas, who wears her mask — a leftover from Halloween — while walking her 3-year-old mixed-breed dog Luna, says the city’s leadership has brought her a semblance of comfort during these dizzying times.
“I think that they have been doing a good job,” she said.
State Rep. Michael Grieco, who represents Miami
Beach, said he has been wearing a mask and gloves while shopping for groceries for the past two weeks.
“And I would not describe myself, generally speaking, as an overly cautious person,” Grieco said. “We have gotten to a point where people essentially need to be told what to do.”
Grieco, a former Miami Beach commissioner, said city leaders have led the state and parts of the country in shutting down public spaces and businesses in the fight against the virus.
Three weeks ago, Morales ordered restaurants and bars to reduce their capacities by 50% to allow more social distancing in businesses. The city has since declared that emergency order, which came on March 13, appeared to be the first significant measure taken by a major Florida city to fight the virus.
Since then, Morales — with input from Gelber and the City Commission — has shuttered restaurants and hotels, mandated a 12 a.m. to 5 a.m. curfew and ordered the public to stay at home when possible.
“Obviously we have been acting well ahead of the other local governments in our state — not because we are smarter or better — but because we need to,” Gelber said in his video address. “Not all cities have beautiful beaches or promenades like Ocean Drive and Lincoln Road, or a superb hospitality industry with amazing restaurants everywhere. Or golf courses and parks like ours. And because of these amenities and others, we tend to be a communal city and we attract people who want to gather together.
“In other words, we typically are not very good at social distancing. That is why we so quickly implemented a safer-at-home directive and closed so many of the amenities we love. And why we immediately turn suggestions like wearing masks into obligations.”