COVID-19 has caused many changes to everyday life. Since the middle of March, Miami-Dade County has enacted stay-at-home and social distancing measures. Shops, schools, restaurants, parks, marinas and several small businesses closed. After almost three months, starting May 18th, Miami-Dade has begun opening the non-essential businesses and public areas, like parks. Even though Miami’s making its way back  to life, slowly but surely, crucial rules will without a doubt remain in place. 

The moment many people have been waiting for: Miami, Miami Gardens, Hialeah and Miami Beach, officially started the first phase of their reopening plan on Wednesday, May 18. Although it seems as though everything will soon “return to normalcy,” many restrictions still exist to make sure everyone stays safe in the process.

As for everyone’s summer plans, there are a lot of changes. For students who are enrolled in summer programs, most will be held online. That goes for traveling to colleges, taking classes at colleges and many jobs. For many children, their normal summers will vary drastically from previous breaks from school. 

As stated by the CDC, summer camps are putting forth social distance regulations; “through increased spacing, small groups, and limited mixing between groups, and staggered scheduling”

Additionally, places like Universal, Islands of Adventure, Disney and Busch Gardens, have closed, some for the first time in a long history of never closing. Universal studios will reopen on June 5 and Disney plans to open on July 11. 

According to Local 10 News, restaurants will remain shut down for another week, that being the minimum. In early-to-mid May, Miami, Miami Beach and Hialeah reopened their restaurants but at 50% capacity to ensure safety for their customers. 

Similar to restaurants, shopping malls like Dadeland and Dolphin Mall have restrictions. Dadeland station has allowed their restaurants to open at full capacity. With that being said they have closed down the streets and have set up tables outside to help with airflow. 

As for other businesses, guidelines will stay in place. Services such as hair dressers, nail salons and doctors offices are supposed to go as normal but walk-in’s are not allowed and customers need to make their appointments over the phone or online before coming in. On the bright side, many businesses have started to offer free parking for an hour as a “welcome back.”