Road To Reopening: Miami-Dade County Lifts Midnight Curfew
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade County is no longer under a curfew.
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced last week she is lifting the curfew, effective Monday, April 12, due to an increase in vaccinations, plus declining hospitalization and death rates.
No more curfew is great for business, especially for all of the shops and restaurants in Wynwood.
"For the food and beverage, this could 30-40 percent for some of these business and that's huge," said Manny Gonzalez of the Wynwood Business Improvement District. "That's huge because at 12:00, they were going to Broward and neighboring cities and the City of Miami was losing and with these new hours it's just going to account for more money for everybody."
Gonzalez says he expects a crush of people, internationally and locally, to swarm the creative streets of Wynwood and spreading COVID is not a concern.
"The majority of the businesses have outdoor components, all of them. The landscape is actually beneficial for us when it comes down to these turbulent pandemic times," he said.
Terrific foot traffic during the day is one thing, but when night falls, it's another. Adding three hours to the Wynwood nightlife paints a familiar pre-pandemic picture.
"Those were the 3 hours we were known for," explained Allen Drummond of Toca Coyo. "The late night crowd is what we get for tacos and in the back. So it's been hard getting a DJ or something started if you have a hard stop at 12."
Drummond says lifting the curfew breathes new life into his business and helps his employees, which he has been concerned about.
"Which more for me as a business owner has really affected all of our staff and our employees. Our employees work for tips. It's just been very challenging for them," he said. "It means we'll be able to hire people back to be able to fill the late night shifts. So it's going to bring more jobs."
The curfew went into effect last year at the start of the pandemic.
Despite the lifting of the curfew, Mayor Levine Cava is still urging all Miami-Dade County residents and visitors to continue to wear a mask, socially distance and stay home when they are sick to stop the spread.
The number of COVID-19 vaccinations in Miami-Dade County has reached nearly 943,000, according to the Florida Department of Health.