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Trump's Mar-a-Lago restaurant and pools to reopen but guests must bring their own towels

Resort temporarily laid off 150 employees in April 

Chelsea Ritschel
New York
Friday 15 May 2020 15:49 BST
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(REUTERS)

President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club will partially reopen this weekend, with the pool, whirlpool and restaurant to be opened to members who follow social distancing guidelines.

As South Florida slowly reopens amid the coronavirus pandemic, members of the resort were informed of the reopening of the resort’s amenities by email, later obtained by The Washington Post.

According to the email, members of the South Florida resort who wish to use the facilities will have to practise social distancing, with lounge chairs set to be placed six feet apart. Members will also have to bring their own towels.

The resort’s main building, including hotel rooms, main dining area and the president’s private residence will remain closed, per the email.

The partial reopening of the resort - two months after it was closed in accordance with the state’s stay-at-home order - comes as Governor Ron DeSantis continues to push for the state to reopen.

A month into the club’s closure, 153 Mar-a-Lago employees were furloughed, a decision the president defended on the basis that there were “no customers”.

"There's no income coming in," Mr Trump said at the time. "But you can't have, you know, many hundreds of employees standing around doing nothing. There's no customer. You're not allowed to have a customer."

Currently, restaurants in the state are allowed to operate at 25 per cent capacity, with Mr DeSantis expected to push for 50 per cent capacity.

According to the latest figures, there have been more than 43,000 cases of coronavirus in Florida and 1,874 deaths attributed to the virus.

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