City of Miami Will Impose at Least a 10-Day Shutdown For Businesses Caught Violating COVID-19 Regulations

City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez announced in a press conference yesterday a new emergency order stating that businesses caught violating COVID-19 regulations will be shut down for at least 10 days.

The new penalties include a 10-day shut down for the initial violation, a 15-day shut down for the second offense, and a 30-day shut down for the third offense. The new order is expected to be signed into effect by City Manager Art Noriega today.

This is a major increase in penalties for businesses violating the social distancing and 50 percent capacity rules. Generally before this, businesses who were caught violating these rules were allowed to reopen within 24 hours once they proved compliance with regulations. Suarez noted that these stricter orders are being put in place to make businesses take regulations more seriously.

Another way the area is cracking down is with a new ban on alcohol sales. Starting today throughout Miami-Dade county, no establishment is allowed to sell alcohol from midnight to 6 a.m. daily, including restaurants. Bar across the state were closed last week, however, they had never reopened in Miami-Dade or Broward counties.

Miami has become a hotspot in recent weeks in the surge of COVID-19 cases, with many restaurants being shut down for violating “new normal” measures that have been put in place to help stop the spread of the virus. Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis has blamed the growing increase in coronavirus cases in the state on younger people who are going out more and socializing. In Miami-Dade County alone there have been more than 35,000 reported cases of COVID-19 since testing began in March, and in the past two weeks the state has reported 70,773 positive results.

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