PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – In Florida, nearly 3,500 cases were reported in the last 24 hours and those abnormally high coronavirus numbers are alarming to city and county officials. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is sounding the alarm that the surge, if not controlled, could spiral out of control.
Locally, cases are rising along with the rest of Florida with Sunday’s total in Miami-Dade County at 25,790. Suarez called the surge concerning and alarming.
“We are starting to see our hospital numbers tick up. We do know that the great majority of the new positives are the 18 to 35 demographic, but of course those people in that demographic go home and interact with their parents and grandparents and that’s a tremendous concern,” Suarez said.
Reopening restaurants contributed to the spike in cases because people were not following the guidelines, Miami’s mayor said.
"When we started opening up our restaurants, unfortunately I think society started to think that we were signaling the all clear."
To combat the rising numbers, the mayor says that he, along with other city leaders, are going to be cracking down on non-compliant businesses and restaurants.
“If we don’t act now, if we are not disciplined, this could get out of control,” Suarez said.
Suarez said he will not go into Phase 3 reopening with numbers this high. He is scheduled to meet with Florida Department of Health officials Monday to go over new coronavirus data. He told Local 10 he will meet with other Miami-Dade County mayors also on Monday.
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