Rare Memorial Day weekend without open beaches in South Florida
An unusual Memorial Day weekend, the "bridge" in late May that marks the start of the summer season in the US, is experienced in South Florida, with most closed beaches and almost no tourists due to COVID-19.
In Miami, where the state's economic reopening came late due to the high incidence of COVID-19, all beaches are closed, but parks and promenades by the sea.
The sea, the great escape from the surfloridanos, is "open".
A fleet of boats, launches, and jet skis are expected to go to sea from public ramps, the inexpensive alternative to marinas and marinas, which were closed during confinement by COVID-19.
Every weekend in Miami, long lines of cars and vans with boat trailers form on these ramps, and this weekend extended until Monday, when Memorial Day is commemorated, will be no exception.
There will also be entertainment on the air.
Four U.S. Air Force F-16C fighter jets, on one side, and an MH65 helicopter and a Coast Guard C-144 aircraft, on the other, will fly over South Florida hospitals and medical centers this Saturday. as a tribute to health workers for their work during the pandemic.
The Falcons of the Air Force will travel from the Keys, the rosary of islands between Florida and Cuba, to Palm Beach County, a distance of 230 miles (370 kilometers) by land where most of the COVID cases are concentrated. -19 in Florida.
They will pass over 34 hospitals and clinics, while the Coast Guard aircraft will make a shorter route that includes flying over 16 medical centers.
These days the iconic Goodyear tire company blimp is also in the skies of South Florida to pay tribute to doctors, nurses, paramedics, first-aid providers and essential workers.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties entered Phase One of the state reopening on May 18, with exceptions such as Miami and Miami Beach.
The reopening began May 4 in most of Florida, which has exceeded 50,000 cases of COVID-19 and 2,000 deaths.
The beaches, gyms and hotels are scheduled to open next Tuesday, with restrictions, in Broward, while in Miami-Dade they will do so on June 1.
Tourism, Florida's engine along with services, is timidly emerging from the paralysis of confinement.
This weekend is the first since the end of March that vacation homes and apartments can be rented in 26 of Florida's 67 counties, but the hotel industry has barely started.
The economic damage caused by the new coronavirus is mainly reflected in the rise in the state unemployment rate, which stood at 12.9% in April, triple that of March, according to official data released this Friday.
Large Florida-based companies like Hertz, which is dedicated to car rental, have filed for bankruptcy.
