Human toll of coronavirus in Florida comes into sharper focus as numbers grow

The potential for the novel coronavirus to ravage South Florida became more clear Wednesday as the number of confirmed cases spiked, a patient at Miami’s VA Medical Center tested positive, and a local official became the first member of Congress to learn he contracted the virus.

After the number of positive cases of COVID-19 jumped from 216 to 328 statewide from Tuesday to Wednesday, including from 44 to 77 in Miami-Dade County, Republican Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Miami announced he had tested positive Wednesday afternoon.

Diaz-Balart, 58, entered self-quarantine Friday and stayed in Washington because his wife has a pre-existing medical condition, he said. On Saturday, he said he developed symptoms, including a fever and headache.

“I want everyone to know that I am feeling much better,” Diaz-Balart said in a statement Wednesday evening.

That makes two prominent Miami officials who have tested positive for COVID-19. The city’s mayor, Francis Suarez, tested positive last week, while other local officials, including County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and Sen. Rick Scott, decided to self-quarantine after interacting with individuals who tested positive.

Later Wednesday, another member of Congress, Democrat Ben McAdams of Utah, also announced he has COVID-19.

Wednesday also brought harrowing news about the potential spread of COVID-19 among the elderly, who have made up the majority of people globally to die from the disease. State officials said coronavirus is now suspected or confirmed in 19 long-term care facilities in Florida, potentially exposing hundreds of the state’s most vulnerable population to the virus.

But officials wouldn’t identify the facilities, citing privacy concerns. One person in a Broward County assisted living facility who tested positive for the virus died this week, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday.

Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Mary Mayhew said the state was sending strike teams to every facility that raises concerns about the virus, but she would not answer when asked whether everyone in those facilities has been tested.

There are thousands of nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other sites for senior citizens in Florida, and an outbreak of COVID-19 in one of them is a worst-case scenario public health officials have feared.

When a nursing home outside Seattle experienced an early outbreak of the virus, at least 25 people associated with the facility died.

The state is now requiring every person working in a facility that houses older or more vulnerable populations to wear masks, DeSantis said. He added that officials fear the person who died contracted the virus from someone who was not displaying symptoms.

Also on Wednesday, officials at the Miami VA Medical Center said a patient tested positive for COVID-19, the first such case at the downtown veterans facility. The veteran, one of ten patients who have been tested by the Miami VA for infection by the coronavirus, was admitted for treatment.

“The risk of transmission to other patients and staff remains low, as the veteran is being cared for in isolation by staff who are specially trained on the latest Centers for Disease Control treatment guidelines and utilizing personal protective equipment and infection control techniques,” the Miami VA said in a statement.

The flurry of new cases came as the availability of testing ramped up. The first drive-thru COVID-19 testing center opened in South Florida, as Community Health of South Florida, located in Cutler Bay, began testing patients Wednesday. Community Health says testing will be available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, although on Wednesday, the health center ran out of testing kits about 45 minutes before closing.

The tests still aren’t available to anyone who wants them. To be eligible, residents need to have recently traveled to affected countries or been in contact with someone who has the novel coronavirus.

They also have to be experiencing symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath — and the nonprofit is asking those with severe symptoms to visit a hospital ER instead.

Economy continues to slow

One day after Miami-Dade County imposed the shutdowns of restaurants, bars, movie theaters and other businesses where gatherings could increase the risk of exposure, the county will now see an even larger chunk of its economy shutter this week.

Gimenez plans to order broad closures of shops, salons, malls, private colleges and other businesses deemed “non-essential” in a rapidly escalating effort to contain the coronavirus.

The measures Gimenez previewed in a Twitter post Wednesday afternoon shift from a targeted effort to reduce gatherings to more of a blanket closure decree with limited exceptions. Gimenez ordered restaurants and bars closed at 11 p.m. Tuesday night, and on Wednesday morning barred gatherings of more than 10 people in county parks.

“You cannot have a party in a park,” Gimenez said in a video message broadcast from his home, where’s he in self-isolation after a possible COVID-19 exposure on March 9.

Gimenez also said Wednesday he plans to order all casinos closed across the county, and he froze rentals of scooters and mopeds throughout Miami-Dade.

“The only way to get ahead of COVID-19 and stop the spread of this virus is taking some very extraordinary actions,” he said.

In Broward County, officials say they can’t take such sweeping action. Mayor Dale Holeness said Wednesday that the county does not have the authority that Miami-Dade does to force local businesses to cut hours or close their doors.

Instead, he urged municipalities to enact laws that would help curb the novel coronavirus by limiting hours and crowd sizes, or shutting down businesses completely, much like leaders in Miami-Dade did the previous day.

”I urge our cities to look to see how they can take actions,” he said. “The cities can do more.”

Most South Florida malls have now shut their doors, too. Sawgrass Mills, Dadeland and Aventura malls, among others, closed at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the malls’ owner, Simon Property Group, announced.

Simon, the owner of over 20 Florida malls and outlets, said all of its malls and premium outlets will be closed until March 29.

The changes have already had devastating effects for workers.

Occupancy rates in Miami-Dade County’s 469 hotels — which total 150,000 rooms — have plummeted from nearly 90 percent last week to around 20 percent this week, according to Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Chris Rollins, CEO of South Beach Group Hotels, said he anticipates having to close hotels as early as this week. He expects to offer furloughs to some of the company’s 1,000 employees after occupancy at its 17 hotels plummeted from 90 percent last week to 20 percent this week.

Restaurants have also been crushed. Chef and restaurateur Michael Schwartz said that, overnight, his group of nine restaurants, including Michael’s Genuine, Tigertail and Mary, Harry’s Pizzeria and its catering company, went from 460 employees to six.

Schwartz, winner of the James Beard award as one of the best chefs in the South, visited several of his restaurants Monday and tried to break the news to as many people as he could in person. Some, however, learned about it in a company-wide email and from an Instagram post.

“It was a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, nauseating day,” Schwartz said.

Miami Herald staff writers Mary Ellen Klas, Samantha Gross, Jay Weaver, Michelle Marchante, Devoun Cetoute, Douglas Hanks, David J. Neal, Carlos Frias, Rob Wile, Michelle Kaufman and Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.

This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 9:38 PM.