Key West is officially closed for the short term. None of us knows how long that will be. The Mayor of Key West issued an emergency order on Tuesday shuttering restaurants at 6:00 PM. Key West had thousands of vacationers, student breakers, second home sowers, and locals that were suddenly left without places to eat. City beaches were closed but county and state beaches remained open. Later the trolley cars, gyms, and other public places and private businesses catering to vacationers were closed. The county issued orders on Thursday closing all hotels and vacation rentals and requiring restaurants only to sell take-away meals.
Earlier I decided not to write anything about the corona virus simply because I did not know enough. It was not affecting us. There had been no cases in the Keys. I understood the gravity of the situation for New York and other areas with concentrated populations. At the same time I recognize that we have service workers from all over the world who work in our hotels, restaurants, and bars plus thousands of tourists from every where who come to Key West by boat, car, and airplane. They come from places like New York City and Hong Kong. This morning the Key West Citizen reported a 72-year-old person in the Florida Keys has tested positive for the
virus. She could only say it’s a “travel-related case from the U.K.”
Locals who work in the hotels and bars have been or are being laid off for the foreseeable future. A $1200 handout from Washington won't do a bit of good. I think it is equally foreseeable that many locals may leave town to live with family or friends until such time as businesses reopen. Key West will re-emerge. Just as it was after 911 Key West may be seen as a safer option than vacationing in Asia or Europe for years to come.
Gary
