Residents get safety alert to the surprise of Miami-Dade County mayor

Safer at Home not meant to scare people, Mayor Carlos Gimenez says

MIAMI, Fla. – Millions of people got a text alert to stay at home because of COVID-19, but Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said that shouldn’t have happened.

A public safety alert was sent out Friday afternoon that alerted people to “remain in their homes except for essential activities.”

Apparently, our Emergency Operations Center pushed this alert through without my direction. This may have caused some confusion. During these difficult times, our Emergency Center is working hard to keep everyone informed. They may have gone a little overboard."

Local 10's Christina Vazquez spoke with the mayor in a Skype interview and he told her why he wants those alerts to be cleared by him first.

"I don't want to scare people," said Gimenez.

The alert is part of the Safer At Home order, requesting that people stay home and only go out for essentials.

Safer at home is a term that encapsulates the previous countywide orders we have already been living under.

It means don’t leave your house unless you must:

Residents can leave their homes to get essentials, like groceries, restaurant pick-up services, gas and to visit to the doctor or pharmacy, or to work at another essential business.

The mayor’s office said residents can also walk their dogs or perform outdoor exercises, like jogging or bicycle riding.

Gimenez is also requiring essential businesses to take social distancing precautions.

“Throughout their stores and worksites. What this means is that all pick-up and take-out areas, as well as employee break rooms and common use areas should have markings on their floors or some other visible means of alerting people, they must stay 6-feet apart,” Gimenez said


About the Author
Christina Vazquez headshot

Christina returned to Local 10 in 2019 as a reporter after covering Hurricane Dorian for the station. She is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and previously earned an Emmy Award while at WPLG for her investigative consumer protection segment "Call Christina."

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