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MIAMI (WSVN) - City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez signed a third extension for the state of local emergency order on his first day out of quarantine.
Suarez signed the order during a virtual press conference on Tuesday morning.
“As many of you know, the stay at home requirements are still in place, 24 hours,” said Suarez.
He was released from quarantine on Monday after following the guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and testing negative for COVID-19 twice.
“Yesterday, I got to see my wife and my kids for the first time, hugged them, kissed them,” Suarez said.
Miami Worldcenter released footage of Suarez reuniting with his family after returning home. The video showed the mayor hugging his children and kissing his wife.
It was the first time he’d seen his loved ones in 18 days.
Suarez said things are going to be different.
“I went for a walk with them. I can see that people are adjusting to me being out, and I’m adjusting to being out, and with that comes adjustments.” he said.
The mayor had tested positive for the virus over two weeks ago. He said he was the second positive COVID-19 case in the county.
Suarez said he felt well enough to do his job while in quarantine.
“Very challenging for me personally. Obviously, as I come out of quarantine, I’m adjusting to a new normal,” he said. “I want to begin by thanking, of course, my family: my wife, my two children for patiently waiting, my in-laws for housing them. I want to thank our city manager, who has been so communicative with me throughout this process.”
During the conference, Suarez acknowledged the pandemic has been difficult for everyone, but the city reacted quickly to the virus.
“We’re the first city in America to cancel large events, such as Ultra. Some in this community criticized us and said that we were acting prematurely. Later on, they followed us,” he said. “We were probably the second city to issue a stay at home order, a shelter in place.”
He also reminded residents of the curfew in effect that begins at 10 p.m. daily.
“I believe that our city is going to come together and is coming together and is respecting our laws by and large and we will beat COVID-19 as a community together by sacrificing, by being disciplined and by coming together to work on making sure this virus does not spread through our community,” he said.
Suarez also thanked all the residents who sent him messages on social media and email to keep up his spirits.
The mayor spent part of his first day outside at the new Paramount Building in downtown Miami, where rapper Pitbull debuted his new anthem, “I Believe We Can Win.”
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