MIAMI — Business has plummeted in Miami’s Wynwood arts district since Zika infections were reported there, according to gallery and restaurant owners who want government officials to speed up their response and help offset their losses.
At an emergency meeting Monday, the Wynwood Business Improvement District urged state, local and federal officials to hasten efforts to clear mosquitoes that carry the virus from the area. It also asked for recovery funds to make up for lost business since the U.S. mainland’s first locally acquired Zika cases were reported in the neighborhood north of downtown Miami.
Ken Bercel took out a $15,000 loan to keep his Lost and Found Saloon open after customers stopped coming, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.
“Money is coming out of our savings, our banks, our lenders, just to keep the business open right now,” said Bercel. “How do we finish this summer?”
Florida now reports 21 people have contracted the virus locally, including four new cases likely caught through a mosquito bite within a 1-square-mile zone encompassing Wynwood, according to a statement Tuesday from Gov. Rick Scott.
It’s the only area where active Zika transmissions have been taking place, according to a separate statement from Florida’s Department of Health.
Hillary Clinton, who visited Miami on Tuesday and toured a health clinic near Wynwood, called on Congress to immediately return to Washington to pass legislation to provide emergency funding for Zika testing, treatment and research. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned pregnant women to avoid traveling to Wynwood. Pregnant women who live there have been told to take extra precautions to avoid mosquito bites.
The virus is primarily transmitted by certain tropical mosquitoes but also can be contracted through sex with an infected partner. Most people who contract Zika only experience mild flu-like symptoms, but it can lead to severe brain-related birth defects if women are infected during pregnancy.
Miami-Dade County is using aerial spraying of pesticides in the affected area, in addition to door-to-door inspections.
Some residents and tourists remain undaunted by the advisory. But the Herald reports business owners are taking significant losses.
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