Tess Krause left the flatlands of Illinois early in 2020 and chose beautiful South Florida to start her new life. The hairstylist by training found herself working at Billy Jacks in Lauderdale by the Sea just feet from the beach.
It’s the beach that brings the business lots of customers but on Monday, she found out will be closed for the July 4th weekend.
"Well I feel that was probably everybody’s plan for the 4th of July. It's crazy that they are shutting it down,” Krause said.
Broward Mayor Dale Holness said he didn’t have a choice but to close the beaches as coronavirus cases continue to tick upward. And when the beaches in the Florida Keys, Miami Dade, and Palm Beach announced they would be closing for the weekend, Holness worried the 21 miles of Broward beaches would be flooded and turn into a breeding ground for COVID-19.
"We know that if we stay open we will have a crowd here and that would lead to the further spread of the COVID-19 disease which is a serious pandemic upon this world,” Holness said at a news conference Monday.
So, starting Friday, July 3rd the beaches in Broward will shut down until first thing Monday morning, July 6th.
Krause and her boss are keeping a smile about it.
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“I definitely agree with that especially with all the protests going on and people gathering in groups, that's just asking for an outbreak. It's already pretty serious in this area, you know what I mean,” Krause said.
"At this point in time it's everyday it seems to be changing, whatever the new restrictions are. We have been adapting, adapt and overcome," Krause's boss, Todd Zimmer, said.
The mayor in Lauderdale by the Sea is doing his best to keep the revenue that is coming in flowing.
"I also want to mention that all restaurants and all businesses will be open on the 4th of July. They will be open on Friday. They will be open on Sunday. We will just not allow anyone on the beach publicly," Mayor Chris Vincent said.
At Anglin’s Beach Cafe, if you spill your drink it will end up in the sand. They too aren’t letting the beach closing on the upcoming holiday dampen their outlook.
“We gotta accept it and know that there are people that are struggling even more. It's not easy, not like for sure not easy, but we gotta do what we gotta work and hope for the best,” said waiter Nikolas Gogic.
"It’s difficult. We been closed prior 90 days, three months we were closed. Now we're 50 percent open and trying to split the staff as much as we can to give everybody an opportunity to make some money," owner Spiro Marchelos said.
