City of Miami Beach Update on COVID-19, 5/22

Friday, May 22, 2020

Ensuring the safety and health of Miami Beach residents, visitors and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic remains the city’s most important objective. Today, the City Manager has extended the city’s State of Emergency Declaration and Emergency Measures through May 29, 2020.

Restaurant Openings This week various retail stores, personal grooming establishments, offices and museums reopened as part of the city’s Phase 1 Reopening Emergency Order. Next week, the city’s order will allow restaurants and sidewalk cafes to reopen on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 as part of phase 1b. Visit the dedicated Miami Beach Reopening webpage at www.miamibeachfl.gov/reopening to view guidelines for the reopening process.

Drive-Thru Food Distribution Feeding South Florida and Commissioner David Richardson will host a drive-thru food distribution tomorrow, May 23. Saturday, May 23 9 AM - 11 AM 2100 Collins Avenue Miami Beach, FL The food distribution is on a first come, first serve basis while supplies last. Please remain in your car and open the trunk when it's your turn in line. If you do not have a car and would like to qualify for food assistance, please call or register online. Phone: 305.604.CITY (2489) or www.miamibeachfl.gov/food

Town Hall with Commissioner Meiner Commissioner Steven Meiner will be hosting a virtual Town Hall on Tuesday, May 26 to provide the community with a reopening update and answer your questions on the latest COVID-19 efforts by the city. Tuesday, May 26 5:30 PM The Zoom link to join: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86879677109 Or participate by telephone by calling 312.626.6799 or 888.475.4499, the webinar ID is 868 7967 7109.

Coming Soon: Additional Rent Assistance Funding The HAND Program, funded by Miami-Dade County, will start accepting online rent assistance applications sometime next week followed by a lottery to select final applicants. While the application is open to all county residents in need of rent assistance who have a social security card, HAND expects to serve about 300 – 400 households countywide. As soon as the application site is available, the city will relay this information to its residents.

Miami-Dade County Small Business Assistance Forgivable Loan Program Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners created a $5 million Small Business Assistance Forgivable Loan Program (SBAFLP) utilizing the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds allocated through the Federal Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The loans will be up to $25,000, with 0% interest and no origination fees. The "forgivable" feature of the loans rests on the ability of the small business borrower to retain jobs that are held by those of low or moderate income, meaning those who earn less than 80% of the annual Area Median Income. In Miami-Dade County, the annual AMI for a single person is $51,200. To be eligible, the small business must meet certain criteria such as: having no more than 25 employees, providing some evidence of being impacted by COVID-19, and not previously having received assistance from other special COVID-19 programs, such as the federal Paycheck Protection Program. Click here to learn more.

Get Counted! Now more than ever it's important to get counted! For the first time in Census history, you can now fill out the form online as well as by phone or mail. Responding is fast, easy, safe and important — and it’s key to shaping the future of your community. Visit my2020census.gov and make sure you get counted.

Facial Covering Requirements Face coverings MUST be worn at all essential retail and commercial businesses. If you are visiting one of our open parks/greenspaces and/or beachwalks/baywalks, you must wear a face covering unless social distancing can be achieved. This does not apply to children under the age of 2, person's who have trouble breathing due to chronic pre-existing conditions or persons engaged in strenuous physical activity. All city parks and tennis centers that are currently open close at 8 p.m. South Pointe park is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and is closed on the weekends. Click here for a full listing of parks/greenspace openings and view below facial covering requirement details. Click here to learn how you can easily make your own face covering.

Hybrid Testing Site The COVID-19 testing facility at the Miami Beach Convention Center campus has the capacity for up to 750 tests per day. Testing is FREE and available to anyone, 18 years or older, regardless of COVID-19 symptoms. A patient that has been tested is welcome to be retested at any time. For more information on testing or testing for homebound seniors view the 'Testing' tab on our Coronavirus dedicated webpage.

Customer Service Our city hotline at 305.604.CITY (2489) is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. You can also email your questions to MBCovid@miamibeachfl.gov

To help keep you informed on the latest details of this ever evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the city has created a dedicated, city-related coronavirus webpage. We encourage you to continuously visit www.miamibeachfl.gov/coronavirus for the most up-to-date information, including a list of frequently asked questions, important resources, impacts to city services and more.

Below is an ongoing summary of updates from the City of Miami Beach. Miami Beach Resource Center Has your business or job been impacted by coronavarius pandemic? The City of Miami Beach is here to help! Please email your contact information and inquiry to resourcecenter@miamibeachfl.gov and one of our resource agents will assist you.

You can also view some helpful tools and resources for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including information on Governor DeSantis' Florida Small Business Emergency Loan Program and more on our dedicated business portal. Meals for Seniors If you are a senior citizen 60 years or older and are having problems getting meals, please call Miami-Dade County’s 311 Call Center between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. and you will be immediately patched in with their Emergency Operations Center to get you the meals or other services that you may need. If you are not a senior, we still encourage you to share this message with any senior you may know. Miami-Dade Public Schools Meal Distribution Nautilus Middle School has replaced Miami Beach Senior High as the meal distribution center for Miami-Dade Public Schools grab-and-go meals in our community. Those in need can pick-up meals from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, click here for more information and other school locations. Free meals for kids are also available through FLIPANY, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and Feeding Florida. Impacted Meetings/Events For a full list of impacted meetings and events, please visit www.miamibeachfl.gov/coronavirus. Miami Beach Restaurants - Takeout and Delivery The City of Miami Beach is maintaining the general curfew throughout the city beginning at midnight each night, but permited restaurants to continue to operate their kitchens after midnight, for delivery services only. *Support local businesses by clicking here to view a list of Miami Beach Restaurants open for delivery and takeout* Created to help out local restaurants, Miami Eats has now expanded its efforts to also support your local front-line medical staff, police and fire first-responders through Meals for Heroes Miami.  Stay Informed The City of Miami Beach remains committed to ensuring the safety and public health of our residents, visitors and local businesses. As the information is changing rapidly pertaining to COVID-19, the administration is conducting daily interdepartmental calls to monitor the progression of novel coronavirus COVID-19 to ensure that we stay informed and respond when needed. We are also closely following the guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Florida Department of Health (FDOH). For updated information on the city’s efforts, please visit: www.MiamiBeachFl.gov/coronavirus. We will also post updated messages via email, Nextdoor, Facebook, Twitter and via text message (text MBAlert to 888777).

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