Miami has put the brakes on moving into the next phase of reopening because of concerns over rising coronavirus cases, the mayor said.
“We’re not going backwards as of yet, but we’re kind of sounding the alarm,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Monday, NBC6 reported.
Suarez said there are “major concerns” about entering phase three because of rising local cases, partially among people ages 18 to 35.
“We’re going to be put in a situation where we’re going to have to make tough choices and that’s not where we want to be,” Suarez said. “Now is not a time to let your guard down.”
The city currently is under phase two of reopening, which allowed bars, movie theaters and tattoo parlors to resume business with restrictions.
Suarez said there were no current plans for the city to return to stay-at-home orders, despite the uptick in cases.
“We understand that these are some historically difficult times right now, where 42 million people are unemployed, and implementing a stay-at-home order is something that while effective, and we saw how effective it was mathematically, it’s a measure of last resort,” Suarez said.
The Sunshine State reported two consecutive days of more than 2,000 new daily cases over the weekend as additional beaches were reopened.
Florida has recorded more than 80,000 cases as of Tuesday afternoon, including at least 2,900 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
