Miami-Dade Police Freeze Evictions amid Mounting Coronavirus Fears

Gimenez
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Authorities in Miami-Dade County announced on Thursday that they are suspending eviction activities — a decision that follows Mayor Carlos Gimenez declaring a state of emergency.

Miami-Dade police announced that they had “temporarily suspended all eviction activities until further notice” as Gimenez declared a state of emergency this week.

“The only ones that can follow through on eviction orders is us,” police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta said, according to the Miami Herald. “From this point forward, those papers and those orders will not be processed.”

Gimenez has also ordered the cancellation of large gatherings.

“Although we do not have community spread at this time, we want to take the preemptive steps to keep it that way,” Gimenez said in a statement.

“Therefore, I have decided to suspend the operation of the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair, the Miami Open tennis tournament, the MIA 5K run, and all major events at the American Airlines Arena,” he continued.

“As we move forward together during this time, we will continue to monitor what the World Health Organization has determined is a global pandemic,” he added. “We will constantly evaluate planned mass gatherings as the situation evolves.”

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) confirmed Miami-Dade’s first cast of the Wuhan virus on Wednesday. It is believed to be a travel-related case. As of Friday, the department listed 45 confirmed cases of the virus across the Sunshine State:

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) praised the decision to halt evictions and called for authorities to implement the practice nationwide:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has also called for a freeze on evictions, as well as a “no-strings” Universal Basic Income (UBI) program:

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