In what was supposed to be an evening of fundraising and hope, a backlash has now swept through the Miami community. On April 18 David Guetta teamed up with the Miami Downtown Development Authority to host a 2 hour “United at Home” fundraising concert on the pool deck of Icon Brickell. The event raised over $6 million with over 30,000 listeners on instagram and in many ways was a huge success. Unfortunately many residents hosted parties in violation of Miami-Dade’s 10 person social gathering limit, issued by County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the effects of which have wreaked havoc on Florida’s economy. In one example videos have emerged with the help of the popular instagram account @OnlyInDade of a Miami entrepreneur hosting a large party on his balcony with guests not practicing social distancing and most wearing no masks and no gloves. The backlash in the comments on the instagram post has continued to grow as Brickell and Downtown Miami residents are enraged that they are now exposed to the dangers of the virus continuing to spread in their community. In March, hotels, restaurants, bars and nightclubs were ordered shut down in an effort to stop Florida from growing into a hotbed of infection. Parties have been identified as one of the major ways that COVID-19 has spread rapidly across the United States, at least 2 deaths have been reported from attendees who contracted the virus at the Winter Party Festival in Miami Beach in March.

The State of Florida is working hard to open up the states economy and get residents back to work. On Friday April 17 governor Ron Desantis gave the green light for some beaches and parks to reopen including in Jacksonville, but not Miami-Dade, which is one of the most populated regions in the state. The beaches which have opened allow walking, biking, hiking, fishing, running, swimming and surfing. They are only open from 6 AM to 11 AM and 5 PM to 8 PM. with gatherings of 50 people still prohibited state wide and proper social distancing practiced. Florida has over 23,300+ diagnosed cases of COVID-19 including 7,459+ in Miami-Dade, 3,177+ in Broward County and 1,704+ in Palm Beach County.