Florida Reopening Update: City of Miami: May 20

Effective May 20, 2020 at 7:00 AM: Emergency Order 20-11

The City of Miami has approved Emergency Order 20-11, which allows a phased re-opening of certain retail and commercial businesses in the City beginning on May 20, 2020.  Please read below for important details. It is important to note that the order is more stringent than the Miami-Dade County Phase 1 Re-opening order. 

Emergency Order 20-11

Retail and commercial establishments are permitted to reopen under the following conditions:

1. The establishment fully complies with all the requirements of the Miami-Dade County Emergency Order 23-20 (this was Miami-Dade’s Phase 1 Order) including the Handbook, appendices and any amendments thereto that may follow. 
2. The establishment consents to the entry of City of Miami personnel onto the business and/or establishment’s property for the sole purpose of inspection for compliance with this order. 
3. The establishment complies with additional requirements set forth by the City, which are:

• The order requires all employers to establish a checkpoint system for employees and further requires that employers ask several health-screening questions at the onset of each workday or shift, keeping records of such.
• If an employee answers “Yes” to one or more of the health questions, the employee is required to leave the establishment and remain in isolation until tested for COVID-19 and receiving a negative result after having been isolated for a period not less than 7 days or self-isolated for a period of 14-days with at least 72-hours of resolution of symptoms. The order notes that it is the business's responsibility to comply with all applicable laws, including HIPPA, when conducting employee screening procedures.
• Employers and employees are required to self-report all presumed cases of COVID-19 to the Florida Department of Health.
• Requires cleaning of restrooms, high touch surfaces in common areas, including railing, seats, ATMs, kiosks and elevator buttons in all businesses and establishments every 2 hours pursuant to the OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 Handbook.
• Prohibits the use of water fountains and interactive water displays.
• Prohibits valet parking.
• Limits capacity in building elevators.
• Prohibits businesses from offering self-serve products, samples, testers, or self-serve salad bars or soup bars and prohibits supermarkets from offering individuals to consume food on the premises in seated dining areas.

The order prohibits the opening of all establishments that remain closed pursuant to Miami-Dade County Emergency Order 23-20, which are:

• Beaches
• Apartment, condominium and hotel pools and spas;
• Bars, pubs, night clubs, banquet halls, cocktail lounges, cabarets, and breweries except for take-out and delivery services as authorized pursuant to Emergency Order 03-20;
• Movie theaters, concert houses, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys, arcades, gymnasiums and fitness studios;
• Hotels, commercial lodging establishments, except for those serving essential lodgers;
• Tattoo parlors
• Massage parlors

Fitting rooms in retail establishments must remain closed.

Other businesses that must remain closed are:

• Casinos, cardrooms, frontons, racetracks, and pari-mutuel facilities;
• Tour bus and party boat operators are prohibited from operating a route in the City of Miami and only allows tour buses to operate with certain, narrow exceptions.

The order requires that any establishment that has an on-site employee or contractor who tests positive to close immediately for the shorter of:

• The time needed for all staff who suffered exposure to a positive COVID-19 individual during the period from 48 hours before symptoms onset until meeting the CDC criteria for discontinuing home isolation to be tested with negative results and isolated for a period of 7 days.  The establishment must also be deeply sanitized as specified in the OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 Handbook; or
• Fourteen days from the date such employee or contractor was last onsite at such establishment.

The order requires facial coverings for all persons working in or visiting a business.

Finally, the order allows restaurants and other foodservice establishments (including those within hotels and other private buildings) to reopen for in-person dining services and outdoor service effective May 27, 2020.

The order takes effect on May 20, 2020, at 7:00 AM.

The City has a website dedicated to reopening. Click Here to view it.  

Please let us know if you have any questions or if you would like any additional information.