Miami-Dade police issuing $100 fines for residents who don't wear masks

Police officers in Florida's Miami-Dade County are issuing hefty fines to residents caught outdoors without face coverings, a sign that local authorities are taking seriously their strict, no-exceptions mandate instituted in July. 

The county earlier this month began requiring residents to wear masks whenever they are in a public place, indoors or outdoors. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez claimed the issue was “a matter of life and death.”

The efficacy of face masks in stopping the spread of respiratory diseases remains disputed, though many states and localities have ordered residents to don them under many circumstances while in public. 

Numerous media outlets over the past week have reported that Miami-Dade residents have been handed $100 citations for failing to cover their mouths and noses while out of their homes. One resident told the Miami Herald that she was fined for taking her mask off after leaving a grocery store and while walking through a "nearly empty" parking lot. 

The county government says the mask order is part of its "New Normal rules."

"Anyone in Miami-Dade County who is not following New Normal rules faces a civil offense, punishable with a $100 fine," the county says on its website.