coronavirus

Miami-Dade Mayor Announces Initiatives to Start Planning For County's Economic Restoration

While no timelines or specific strategies have been established yet, the Mayor's office clarified the initiatives represented "a plan to make a plan"

(Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

On Monday, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez used his daily video message to announce two new initiatives aimed at "getting the community back to work" in light of a plateauing number of coronavirus hospitalizations in the area.

"We're seeing a light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel starting with the number of hospitalizations that are steadying in Miami-Dade county," the mayor said. "That's a good sign and we want to move forward in a thoughtful and deliberate way."

The first initiative is called "Moving to a New Normal." It will involve community leaders and health experts working together to plan for "people in the county to return to as normal life as possible," Gimenez said, without jeopardizing the health of residents and those who are most vulnerable.

The second initiative addresses economic restoration in the county, and will consist of academics and community business leaders strategizing how to restore Miami-Dade's economy as quickly as possible.

This will be a longer-term plan that ties into the county's broader 'One Community, One Goal' economic development agenda, Gimenez said.

As for the timeline for these initiatives, Gimenez's office clarified in an email that "the Mayor will base any potential timeline for lifting restrictions on the continuously updated information he receives from medical experts on the state of current conditions."

"Today’s announcement of the initiatives was simply meant to keep the community informed and hopeful that there will be an end to this, and that the county will be ready," the email continued. "There is no plan in place yet. No timeline has been established. It’s a plan to make a plan."

As of Monday morning, Miami-Dade County continues to lead Florida with the most number of coronavirus cases confirmed by the state's Department of Health. With 7,241 reported cases, the county makes up about one third of the state's total, and according to Mayor Gimenez, more than one hundred people in the area have died.

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