Visitors Arrive Early As Broward Beaches, Gyms Reopen Tuesday

After months of being closed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Broward County’s beaches are among locations welcoming back visitors Tuesday.

Several locations opened as part of new hours set up for beachgoers and fishermen anxious to arrive for the first time since beaches closed in the middle of March amid the pandemic.

“It’s great to be back. This is my second home. It’s great fishing again,” said Jim Barron and Harvey Bernstein, two of the fishermen who spent Tuesday morning at the Dania Beach pier.

The county reopened their beaches, along with hotels and gyms. Beaches will be open from sunrise until sunset with no picnics or sunbathing allowed and no crowds of more than 10 people.

"It’s been very frustrating, been very very frustrating. I love to come here, this is like my little sanctuary," said beachgoer Kenny Bourke.

Fort Lauderdale and Broward County officials clashed over when to allow certain facilities to reopen. Fort Lauderdale officials had given commercial gyms the green light to open, even though the county at first maintained that gyms were to remain closed.

“There’s a lot of rules that people don’t understand, they’re not aware of, and they might be confused of," said Broward Sheriff's Office Lt. Jason Tarala. "Our role here is to teach and educate”

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.

“We don’t want to criminalize this, we don’t want to arrest people, that’s not the idea. The idea is that we want to make sure that people know what the rules are, that they’re following the rules," said Dania Beach Mayor Lori Lewellen.

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

"Exercise and maintaining good health are important components in the fight against COVID-19," Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean 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."

Miami Beach, a normal hotbed of activity during the holiday weekend, remains closed until June 1^st with restaurants in the city still limited to takeout service.

“It’s very different this year as those projections we would typically get from hotel occupancy, we simply don’t have this year,” said Ernesto Rodriguez from the Miami Beach Police Department.

Both Miami and Miami Beach plan to reopen restaurants for restricted dining starting Wednesday.