Broward County to shut down beaches for Fourth of July weekend

In response to rising coronavirus cases in the state, Florida has ordered bars to stop serving alcohol and some counties have made a decision to close their beaches for the Fourth of July weekend.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced that all beaches and parks in the county will be closed from Friday, July 3, through Tuesday, July 7. He warned that the shutdown could be extended if conditions do not improve and people do not follow rules created to slow the spread of the coronavirus. "If people are not going to be responsible and protect themselves and others from this pandemic, then the government is forced to step in and restore common sense to save lives", he said in a statement.

Several mayors of Broward municipalities will discuss the beach closures at a 4:30 p.m. news conference Sunday.

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The mayor of Florida's most populous county said all parks and beaches will also be closed to the public for viewing fireworks in all cities and unincorporated areas of the county.

Florida's Palm Beach will be sending out 1.5 million masks to county residents amid a resurgence of coronavirus in the state. He said masks and social distancing will be required with a maximum of five groups of no more than 10 people each. "So we just ask that you understand and try to respect what we're trying to do for the general public", Trantalis responded. Beaches reopened throughout the state last month as coronavirus cases seemingly leveled off both in Florida and nationally.

The Miami-Dade County mayor's announcement comes as Florida saw more than 8,900 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday morning. The increased activity and lack of social distancing had contributed to a new surge of coronavirus cases.