MIAMI (AP) — Business owners are anxious for federal health officials to lift a travel advisory warning pregnant women and their partners to avoid parts of Miami and South Beach that have been identified as zones of active transmission of
MIAMI (AP) — Business owners are anxious for federal health officials to lift a travel advisory warning pregnant women and their partners to avoid parts of Miami and South Beach that have been identified as zones of active transmission of the Zika virus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it could lift its advisory for a 1-square-mile zone encompassing Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood on Sept. 19 if no new locally contracted cases are confirmed.
Business owners and analysts say if Zika infections persist in Miami and a 1.5-square-mile portion of Miami Beach, visitors who have been waiting to make reservations in Miami-Dade County may turn elsewhere. The Wynwood Business Improvement District has asked the city of Miami for money to compensate for Zika’s impact.
Cancellations since the first local Zika infection was confirmed in Wynwood in late July have forced Felipe Correa to lay off one employee from his company running tours in Miami, Key West and the Everglades.
“My Miami tour basically collapsed … all of my pre-arrival reservations canceled,” said Correa.
Connecticut resident Coco Lewis decided to move her annual birthday party from South Beach to Las Vegas next month because of Zika.
“We don’t want to chance it,” said Lewis, 23. “It’s just too risky.”
South Florida’s luxury real estate market, already slumping because of weak foreign currencies, is reporting cancellations by potential buyers from New York and Europe.
“Zika is a deal-breaker for clients who plan to have children,” said Senada Adzem of brokerage Douglas Elliman.
The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has classified all Miami-Dade County as an area of “widespread transmission.”
