MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - It was opening day for parts of South Florida, as South Pointe Park in Miami Beach opened once again to the public, and Palm Beach County entered phase 1 of the statewide plan to move forward with what state officials call “a new normal.”
7News cameras captured park goers enjoying an evening stroll at South Pointe Park, Monday.
Miami Beach resident Stuart Schikora said he’s grateful for the opportunity.
“Joyful. It was great, glad to be out,” he said. “It was like part of your life was missing, to be locked up.”
Richard and Jean Bassin are back on their daily walks in their favorite spot.
“We think this is the best park in Miami. If not, the best park in Florida. If not, the best park in the country,” said Richard.
“It’s absolutely a gorgeous day, and I couldn’t be happier,” said Jean. “It couldn’t be nicer weather.”
The popular South Beach destination had previously reopened earlier this month, but city officials stepped in and shut it down again last Monday after, they said, nearly 10,000 face covering and social distancing violations were reported in the city’s parks.
“People came from all over Miami, and the park was very full. Nobody was respecting the rules,” said Miami Beach resident Cristiana Machado.
Park visitors were on their best behavior on Monday, but South Pointe will only be open on weekdays, and face coverings are required if park goers are within six feet of someone else.
“Hey, when you’re in close contact, and we’re more than six feet, but even within this distance, wear your mask,” said Miami Beach resident Bryan Dean. “It makes total sense.”
“We walk with our masks on and we stay, at least, six feet away from people,” said Richard. “But they weren’t doing it, so it was right to close it.”
As South Florida takes steps toward returning to normal, some businesses in Palm Beach eagerly opened their doors. The county started phase 1 of slowly reopening,
Cameras showed restaurant workers setting up chairs and cleaning table tops along Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. They even measured the distance between tables with a ruler to make sure they were at least six feet apart.
At Voodoo Bayou in Palm Beach Gardens, the restaurant’s staff prepared for the phase one reopening by spacing out tables and installing new plexiglass dividers.
The owner, Curtis Peery, said he also trained all the restaurant employees on how to properly sanitize the common areas.
“We’re really excited for customers to come back and enjoy the experience,” Peery said. “We’re following the governor’s orders to a T. On top of that, we’re taking numerous measures on top of the governor’s orders. Our top concern is the safety of employees and the safety of our customers.”
At Johnnie Brown’s in Delray Beach, the only thing customers have to worry about touching is their food. The restaurant will have menus ready to be scanned with a QR code.
“We changed out all the faucets and hand dryers in the bathrooms to be automatic,” said restaurant director of operations Craig O’Keefe. “Contactless payment for your phone with QR codes, which is really awesome for guests.”
O’Keefe said they are still waiting on an order of sanitizing stations to come in before they open their doors to customers.
The tables and chairs at Johnnie Brown’s will also be cleaned with UV wands.
“That’ll be an additional layer after we normally clean the tables and chairs and stuff with our normal disinfectant,” said O’Keefe.
Nail and hair salons and barber shops also reopened, but with several restrictions. These businesses must schedule appointments and 15-minute sanitation windows after each client leaves.
Employees are also required to wear masks.
“It’s a blessing,” said Justin Lynch, the owner of Justin & Greg’s Beauty Loft in West Palm Beach. “We have been closed for about five weeks now, and it’s been tough.”
“I’m just really excited to see all my people that I work with ’cause they’re like my family,” said hairstylist Jordan Perry, “and being able to put food on the table isn’t half bad either.”
Meanwhile, officials in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have their sights set on next Monday as a date to slowly reopen.
“That would be done uniformly across Broward County, so that we’re all on the same page as it pertains to what needs to be done and how we do it going forward,” said Broward County Mayor Dale Holness.
In Broward, the Board of County Commissioners held a special virtual workshop.
“We think we are moving in the right direction to be able to gear up to try to keep an eye on what’s going on in our community,” said County Administrator Bertha Henry.
However, Miami Beach leaders said they do not expect the city’s beaches to reopen until at least early June.
Anyone with questions and concerns about the coronavirus can call the Florida Department of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 1-866-779-6121.
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