Florida Keys to close all hotels starting Sunday in response to coronavirus crisis
Monroe County ordered all hotels in the Florida Keys closed indefinitely beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ve decided today to start to shut down the Keys to tourists,” said Monroe County Mayor Heather Carruthers.
The order, a strategy to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, also extends to vacation rental units where guests stay less than 28 days, and short-term rentals in RV parks.
Monroe County has about 16,500 lodging units — hotels and vacation rentals.
Monroe County Administrator Roman Gastesi announced the move during an emergency conference call meeting Thursday night with other government officials and lodging and restaurant industry stakeholders.
“We don’t know how long this thing will last,” Gastesi said.
The hotel closure will last for the next 14 days and will be reevaluated every day, officials said, adding they have already seen a steady decline in visitors.
As of Thursday night, there have been no confirmed cases of the virus in the Keys, but officials predict that it’s a matter of time before that changes. So far, 30 people in the Keys have been tested.
A presumptive, travel-related case in Monroe County was announced by the Florida Department of Health late Thursday.
“It’s kind of creeping its way down from the mainland,” Gastesi said. “We see the mainland exploding with this stuff. It’s going to happen.”
County officials are considering other measures, such as limiting all Keys restaurants to takeout and delivery only, a policy put into place by the city of Key West and Miami-Dade County earlier this week.
“Everything is on the table,” Gastesi said. That list includes possibly restricting traffic into the Keys on U.S. 1 and adding more restaurant restrictions.
The current policy in Monroe County is to allow restaurants to stay open, but at only 50 percent capacity.
All bars and nightclubs that sell mostly alcohol have been closed since Tuesday by executive order from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
At this time, there are no plans to post a checkpoint in Florida City to stop non-Keys residents from entering the island chain, said Monroe Sheriff Rick Ramsay, although some Keys officials want one.
“Somehow, we have to get that point across that you just don’t come down to the Keys,” said Islamorada Councilman Jim Mooney.
Andy Newman, a representative for the Tourist Development Council said the lodging industry isn’t happy, but it understands.
Carol Wightman, who has owned the Marquesa Hotel in Key West for 32 years with Erik deBoer, was stunned by the news, which she learned from a reporter who called for comment.
“They might as well shutter the Keys,” Wightman said. She employs about 40 people.
Monroe County also isn’t buying new advertising for Keys travel.
“Ten days ago we canceled all of our advertising measures,” Newman said of the TDC. “Nobody’s really looking for vacation information at this moment. No reason to spend the money.”
County beaches remained open Thursday, along with parks. County officials told people to practice social distancing and not gather in groups of 10 or more. Key West closed its beaches off.
Islamorada leaders on Thursday said they will close beaches and parks on Friday.
“County-owned playgrounds are being sanitized twice daily,” said county spokeswoman Kristen Livengood.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Florida Keys to close all hotels starting Sunday in response to coronavirus crisis."
