Miami-Dade Mayor Asks Residents To Avoid Friends, Family

MIAMI, FL — The mayor of Miami-Dade County issued an unusual appeal for his 2.8 million residents Friday, asking them to wear masks, remember to wash their hands, social distance, avoid touching their faces and one other thing.

"I know that we have a lot of our family that lives in our community and we love to get together with our family because we love them dearly," Mayor Carlos Gimenez told reporters at a virtual press conference.

"But, maybe for a couple weeks, how bout not doing that too much? How bout just basically staying to yourself? Stay away from your friends for a while," he urged.

See related:

DeSantis Blames Testing; FL Reports 11,466 More Coronavirus Cases

As Florida's coronavirus numbers continue to surge, Miami-Dade County remains the hardest hit among Florida's 67 counties — not only with respect to the number of positive cases, but also in the number of hospitalizations and deaths.

The county, which includes Miami and Miami Beach, has begun imposing civil fines of $100 for individuals and $500 for businesses that violate a countywide emergency order requiring masks to be worn in all public spaces except when a person is exercising as long as they are 10 feet away from the nearest other person. The order exempts young children and people who meet certain other criteria.

"If you are a business, you must follow all the rules, including capacity limits and requiring your patrons to wear face masks, or you will get a civil citation of $500," Gimenez warned.

"Individuals who aren’t able to pay the fine will have to do community service," he said.

In addition to the civil citations, Miami-Dade police officers also have the discretion to issue misdemeanor citations, which carry maximum sentences of up to 180 days in jail and possibly even a criminal record.

The county has also set aside 500 hotel rooms so people can quarantine if they test positive for the virus but live in a household with other people, or if they are well enough to be discharged from a hospital while still testing positive.

"This program is focused on homes where there is not enough room to isolate," Gimenez explained. "It’s a critical push to help stop the spread of the virus ."

Despite these efforts, including a nightly 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, Gimenez said it's not enough. He also wants people to stay away from family and friends.

"The number one way of contracting COVID-19 is interaction between people," he said. "You take off your mask. You let down your guard. That’s your friend. That’s your family member. You give them a hug, talk to them really close for a while. That’s the number one way of transmission."

The mayor asked people to make the sacrifice for health care workers.

"They are exhausted," he said. "They are doing all that they can to save our lives. Let’s do something for them too."