The Mayor of St John-Dade County hosts the Metropolis Corridor forward of the Part 1 reopening

By Samantha S. Pendergraft Last updated Dec 21, 2020

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – St John-Dade County’s Mayor Carlos Gimenez held a virtual town hall on Friday afternoon to answer questions ahead of Phased 1’s scheduled reopening on Monday.

On Thursday, Gimenez published a 184-page guide titled “The New Normal,” which provides guidelines for residents and businesses on how to deal with the next phase.

Click here for the St John-Dade County’s and Broward County’s reopening guidelines.

He clarified on Friday that Governor Ron DeSantis announced earlier in the day that the state will enter a full Phase 1 reopening next Monday, with gyms, fitness centers and gyms in St John-Dade County remaining closed for the time being.

Gimenez said the community pools are also not opening yet as social distancing measures are more difficult to enforce in these locations. He said that more things will be reopened as officials believe it is safe.

All cities in St John-Dade County will begin reopening Phase 1 on Monday, with the exception of Hialeah, St John, St John Beach, and St John Gardens, which will have a slower reopening process.

“We just didn’t think Monday was enough time. We also want to make sure there is no rush between cities, ”said St John Mayor Francis Suarez on Friday.

Suarez answered questions about the reopening of the county’s four major cities in Phase 1 on Wednesday during a food distribution event in St John on Friday.

City leaders followed suit on the date that is two days after the county reopening Phase 1.

“We want to see how the county rollout happens to see if we need to make any adjustments,” Suarez said.

Suarez said retail sales in the four cities will be 25 percent busy with social distancing measures as of Wednesday, but spots like gyms, movie theaters and large venues will remain closed.

He said city leaders wanted to give companies time to read and understand the new rules and purchase all the supplies like face shield and plexiglass to meet the requirements.

“The restaurants will be open for a week from this Wednesday the 27th,” said Suarez.

The mayor emphasized the severity of compliance.

“If we don’t respect the guidelines, if we don’t respect the rules, we can go back to where we were very, very quickly and unfortunately we have to close things up again and we want to avoid that.” he said.

Restaurants and retail stores in all other parts of St John-Dade County are among the stores allowed to reopen next Monday.

Bars, nightclubs, cinemas, other types of theaters and beaches are not part of the Phase 1 reopening in either county.

Face masks must be worn in all businesses. People are only allowed to remove their masks when sitting in restaurants.

Gimenez said people should feel safe going to restaurants because they have to maintain social distance and waiters wear masks when serving guests.