Governor Rick Scott has declared the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami "Zika free," and the federal Centers for Disease Control has lifted its Travel Advisory for that area.
At a press conference Monday, Governor Scott shared the good news that the "Wynwood Zika Zone" is lifted.
“We’ve now been 45 days without a local transmission of Zika, and so everybody, should be coming back here to enjoy themselves,” said Scott.
Small businesses around the artsy Wynwood area were heavily impacted by the CDC’s travel advisory—as highlighted by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in a floor speech to his colleagues, calling for Zika funding.
“It was the first area impacted and the CDC came out with a warning telling people to avoid a neighborhood,” he said. “This is usually the kind of advisory that goes out about avoiding other countries. Telling Americans and travelers specifically to avoid a certain part of a certain neighborhood. Can you imagine the impact that had on the businesses in that community?”
Still, the CDC does advise pregnant women to postpone nonessential travel to Miami-Dade County. Zika can cause severe birth defects. With more local cases reported Friday, Miami Beach still has a travel advisory in place.
Meanwhile, next Friday, Scott is hosting “Dine Out Wynwood.” It’s an event to encourage people to travel to Wynwood to help area businesses and restaurants.
For more news updates, follow Sascha Cordner on Twitter: @SaschaCordner .
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