Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale Beaches, Commercial Gyms and Hotels Set to Reopen on Tuesday

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Fort Lauderdale will open its hotels, commercial gyms and beaches on Tuesday, May 26, a press release confirmed Saturday. The announcement comes days after city and county officials clashed over when to allow certain facilities to reopen.

City officials in Fort Lauderdale had given commercial gyms the green light to open, even though Broward County maintained that gyms were to remain closed.

Earlier this week, the mayor of Broward warned that fines would be imposed by the county if gym owners in Fort Lauderdale went ahead with reopening.

Now, Fort Lauderdale's city mayor Dean Trantalis has confirmed that "In cooperation with other mayors and Broward County, we were able to move forward with these openings."

Gyms will be allowed to reopen as long as they maintain 50% capacity, sanitize equipment between use, conduct temperature checks on patrons, and make sure staff wear face masks.

"Exercise and maintaining good health are important components in the fight against COVID-19," Trantalis said. "But no one wants gyms to become a breeding ground for the virus either, and thus, there will be some common-sense standards to prevent that."

Dance, martial arts, yoga, spinning and personal training studios will also be allowed to reopen.

Beaches will be allowed to open sunrise to sundown, and only "passive recreation" will be permitted,such as swimming, walking, jogging, surfing, kayaking and paddle-boarding. 

The following rules will also be in place:

  • Activities including picnicking, sunbathing, sitting or lying on the beach are not allowed
  • Group or organized sports like volleyball, umbrellas, canopies, chairs, loungers and coolers are also not allowed, and there can be no group gatherings of more than 10 people
  • Beachgoers must maintain six feet of separation except between members of the same household or group

Trantalis noted that vacation rentals are still not allowed to resume, although hotels will be permitted to reopen.

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