Florida records more than 9,000 hospitalizations in one day 4:08
(CNN) - Florida's Broward County Sheriff says he has no plans to end an operation to fine large gatherings, which has already led to more than 200 fines.
The objective of the operation was twofold, said the sheriff.
Gregory Tony, Sheriff of Broward County, Florida.
at a virtual press conference this Wednesday: cut down on the large gatherings that are taking place and crack down on "roaming car clubs" that gather dozens of young people in certain parts of the community.
There have been more than 1,100 service calls about parties and social gatherings, the sheriff said.
In the two weeks since the operation began, Tony says that the police have responded to at least 13 different meetings or parties and issued more than 260 fines.
"Every time we have large gatherings of more than 100,150 people, it is clear that we are not seeing compliance with CDC recommendations, and therefore more people will contract this virus," said the sheriff.
"We have no interest at the moment to stop having this type of operation," he said.
Broward County borders Miami-Dade County, which has been called by some experts as the new epicenter of the United States' coronavirus, with overwhelmed hospitals and intensive care units (ICUs) sounding the alarm over rising patients. And in the past week, sick Floridians seeking treatment in Miami-Dade County have moved to neighboring county hospitals.
And across the state, the daily number of coronavirus-related deaths broke a record Wednesday for the second day in a row.
During his press conference, the sheriff urged wearing face masks and asked community residents to take a "common sense approach."
"It's no longer about the individual person," said Tony. “When you don't wear a mask when you don't comply, you are potentially exposing someone else. So it's not just about what you can do for yourself but also about what you can do for other people you don't even know. "
He said that several businesses that did not follow coronavirus guidelines were closed for at least a day or fined.
«We need to obtain a better fulfillment of our community, they must assume a greater social responsibility. Otherwise, we will be there enforcing, making citations and issuing fines, "said the sheriff.
–Pierre Meilhan of CNN contributed to this report.
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