Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 3
We’re keeping track of the latest news regarding the coronavirus in South Florida and around the state. Check back for updates throughout the day.
Late-night reading
6:50 p.m.: Some final headlines to take in for the night.
▪ Miami Beach orders customers to wear masks at grocery stores, pharmacies
▪ Amid coronavirus, Miami archbishop to conduct Palm Sunday services on Facebook
▪ Sports agent, imprisoned for smuggling Cuban players, freed to help mom amid coronavirus threat
More than 10,000 confirmed cases in Florida
6:30 p.m.: Florida now has over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, the state Department of Health said Friday evening. The state total is now 10,268 cases and 170 deaths.
Since Thursday night, the state has reported 1,260 new confirmed cases and 26 new deaths in its twice-daily reports. Health officials reported 683 new cases on Friday evening and 577 Friday morning.
In South Florida, Miami-Dade has 3,364 confirmed cases, Broward has 1,598, Palm Beach 858, and Monroe 40.
Read the full story here.
Miami-Dade mayor Giminez: Ignore Suarez’s letter to stop flights
4:20 p.m.: After Miami Mayor Francis Suarez called on President Donald Trump to halt flights into the Miami area from coronavirus “hot spots,” the county mayor with authority over local airports said he told the White House to “disregard” the Suarez letter.
“It’s not his purview,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who has authority over Miami International Airport, a county agency. Gimenez noted passenger flights are also important parts of the supply chain, hauling cargo in and out of Miami, which is a global hub for pharmaceutical shipments.
Reach the full story here.
Food donations in the Keys
3:40 p.m.: Cargill Protein donated 10,000 pounds of beef, pork and chicken to the Florida Keys for its various food banks feeding people during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The food is part of the company’s frozen supply that would go to cruise ships at Port Everglades, and the industry is under a 30-day suspension amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The shipment, which amounts to about $70,000 worth of meat, was organized by Islamorada resident and former Cargill employee Michale Rempe and Mike Forster, owner of locally famous Mangrove Mike’s Cafe.
“That’s a nice donation,” Rempe said this week.
Forster has been offering free meals since Monroe County ordered all hotels in the Keys closed last month, and he has donated supplies to local food banks.
Rempe said the one complaint he’s been hearing from food banks is they are running out of meat.
Another local business helping out in the effort is the Islamorada Fishing Company, which donated freezer space for the meat, Forster said.
Miami Beach forming quarantine crackdown squads
3:15 p.m.: Miami Beach police have formed quarantine crackdown squads targeting out-of-towners from four hot-spot states who flout a mandate that they self-isolate for 14 days after coming to Florida.
After initially contacting the visitors from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana, police remind them of the order issued late last month by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Arresting potential violators is considered a last resort, said Miami Beach Police Chief Rick Clements. Officers will only respond to tips from residents and aren’t busting down doors or stopping random people on the street.
Read the full story here.
Coral Princess not docking in Port Everglades on Saturday
2:30 p.m.: The Coral Princess — with at least a dozen COVID-infected people on board — will not be docking in Port Everglades on Saturday after all.
Port spokesperson Ellen Kennedy said a representative from Carnival Corp., which owns the ship, called Friday morning with the update.
“We don’t know if it will come later today or go somewhere else,” she said. “We know it’s not coming tomorrow.”
Read the full story here.
Miami mayor donates plasma to help COVID-19 treatment
1:55 p.m.: A critically ill patient at Doctors Hospital will receive a plasma transfusion from Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has recovered from COVID-19, as part of federally sanctioned experimental treatment that could help the sick.
Suarez donated his blood as part of an experimental treatment called convalescent plasma therapy, which could help patients fight off the disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 50,000 worldwide — and more than 100 in Florida — infected about 1 million and forced governments to take containment measures that have crippled the economy. Plasma therapy is an experimental practice that uses blood taken from people who have recovered from a viral infection and injects it into those who are still sick. The treatment has been used in victims during recent infectious outbreaks like Ebola, SARS and the H1N1 influenza.
Read the full story here.
Miami Heat launches COVID-19 Resource Center
1:30 p.m.: The Miami Heat is expanding its efforts to help the South Florida community during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Heat launched a COVID-19 Resource Center at Heat.com/ResourceCenter on Friday afternoon, which includes special offers for Heat fans and those working on the front lines of the health crisis.
Full details can be found here.
Surfside adds to travel restrictions
1:15 p.m.: Surfside on Friday announced it is asking visitors to the small Miami-Dade town from out of the country or one of 19 states to self-isolate for a minimum of 14 days.
The 19 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.
“While Surfside always welcomes visitors, especially during the Passover and Easter holidays, I’m asking you to please tell your friends and families to stay home — it could save their life, yours, or that of a loved one,” Surfside Mayor Charles W. Burkett said in an email. “We are taking these harsh measures to help combat the spread of coronavirus in our community, including the issuance of a Safer at Home emergency order and placing enforceable restrictions on travelers from 19 states which have substantial coronavirus cases. Nonessential travel is strongly discouraged during the coronavirus outbreak. Please heed these warnings and help us protect you and your loved ones. Stay safe, stay calm & stay home.”
It’s a similar restriction to the one that Bay Harbour Village put into place a few days ago.
Lunchtime reads
12:30 p.m.: Need to catch up on the Miami Herald’s latest coronavirus-related stories? Here are some of our recently published pieces.
▪ Miami tailors shift to mask-making as experts call for increased protection
▪ Coronovirus cases double at Miami veterans’ hospital while mask concerns rise
▪ Cross the street, bro: How to take a quarantine walk in Miami without being a jerk
A visual tour of Miami-Dade during COVID-19
12:15 p.m.: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that has drastically changed life in Miami-Dade County, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald visual journalists set out to capture the impact of the outbreak through their lenses from dawn to dusk. See the full photo story here.
More than 9,500 confirmed cases in Florida, 3,000-plus in Miami-Dade
11:35 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Friday morning confirmed 577 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to at least 9,585 cases. Officials reported 19 new deaths, 13 of which were in South Florida, bringing the statewide death toll to 163.
Miami-Dade has 3,029 confirmed cases, Broward 1,565, Palm Beach 781 and Monroe 38.
Read the full story here.
3 confirmed cases among South Florida Publix employees
11:05 a.m.: Publix employees who work in Miami Shores, Miami Beach and Boca Raton have tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to internal company emails obtained by the Miami Herald.
Employees from the Publix in Miami Shores, 9050 Biscayne Blvd., received an email from the company that read: “The health and safety of our associates is the top priority of Publix. We were recently notified that an associate at store #794 has tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus).”
The Miami Herald has also obtained an internal communication that said an employee at South Beach’s Fifth and Alton shopping center Publix had tested positive for COVID-19. The Herald has also learned that an employee at 9720 Clint Moore Rd. in Boca Raton tested positive as well.
Read the full story here.
Caribbean distillers putting alcohol to new use
10:55 a.m.: With hand sanitizers now hard, if not impossible, to find even on Caribbean store shelves, rum and gin companies across the region are trying to do their part to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the number of infections continue to increase worldwide.
Some of the top brands in the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti have temporarily shifted production from spirits to manufacturing alcohol-based hand sanitizers and high-proof disinfectants to minimize transmission of the virus. One distillery even went as far as having workers cut and then hand-peel individual aloe leaves to add to its alcohol blend.
Read the full story here.
‘Tell me how we’re going to survive this’
10:30 a.m.: While people across the country receive $1,200 coronavirus relief checks from the federal government later this month, millions of immigrant households nationwide will not receive a penny from the government’s $2 trillion economic rescue plan. Undocumented people were also excluded in Florida’s unemployment package, which pays jobless adults up to $275 a week for 12 weeks.
The lack of access to state and local emergency funding has forced hundreds of South Florida immigrant families to turn to small local organizations instead for money and even food.
This week, about 100 domestic and agricultural workers in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties – and about 1,000 nationwide – received a $400 prepaid gift card to help soften the financial blow.
“You tell me how we’re going to survive this,” one said.
Read the full story here.
Golden Beach banning visitors
10:20 a.m.: The town of Golden Beach is temporarily banning visitors and has imposed a curfew to help limit the spread of COVID-19 in the wealthy community on the northern tip of Miami-Dade.
The residential town — there are no commercial businesses in city limits — straddles State Road A1A on the Miami-Dade/Broward County line, nestled between Hallandale Beach to the north and Sunny Isles Beach to the south.
Drivers passing through, traveling along A1A to go to and from Miami-Dade and Broward, will not be affected by the temporary visitor ban that began Friday morning, said Town Manager Alexander Diaz.
Read the full story here.
More wills being written
10:05 a.m.: Lawyers are being bombarded with requests to write wills, update estate plans and prepare health surrogate or “pull the plug” documents as people are confronted by the realization that they could be diagnosed with COVID-19 and dead within days.
As the coronavirus crisis escalates, catastrophic projections of 100,000 to upwards of 240,000 deaths in the United States are forcing people to act on long-deferred intentions to get their affairs in order. No one is immune. Legal experts urge all mortals — not just the elderly and not just the wealthy — to put their end-of-life plans in writing.
Read the full story here.
Unemployment nears 4.5 percent
9:20 a.m.: The U.S. lost 701,000 jobs, including 417,400 jobs at bars and restaurants, in March as the economic toll from the coronavirus crisis continues to mount.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate rose nearly a full percentage point in March, to 4.4%.
Other heavy job losses were seen in retail trade, construction, and manufacturing, as job sites idled to respect social distancing requirements.
Read the full story here.
Why a Miami man moved into a backyard tent
9 a.m.: John Delgado has spent the last two weeks living in this tent in his backyard to avoid the possibility of infecting his family with the coronavirus. He’s a frontline staffer for a food bank, Farm Share, where he oversees free groceries being handed out to thousands of people weekly at drop sites throughout South Florida.
When he comes home from those food drops, he worries about the people at home: His 84-year-old mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s. His 48-year-old wife with a heart condition. His three teenage sons, including one with asthma. His 2-year-old grandson.
“I can’t get my family sick. I have too much to lose,” Delgado, 52, said.
“I would rather take this on to keep my family safe,” he said.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
8:30 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Friday begins.
▪ One cruise crew member dead, 2 evacuated as coronavirus quarantines keep workers at sea
▪ Florida passes 9,000 COVID-19 cases, 43 new deaths. Miami-Dade deaths jump to 20.
▪ A Florida Keys man dies from COVID-19, first Monroe County death, health officials say
▪ Miami-Dade grocery stores told to cut crowds by 50 percent, take down salad bars
▪ Disney furloughing its theme park employees as coronavirus keeps parks closed indefinitely
▪ Amid crush of unemployment, Gov. Ron DeSantis suspends foreclosures, evictions for 45 days
▪ Governor exempts worshiping from rules, but many religious leaders say, ‘Stay home’
▪ Incarcerated Florida rapper YNW Melly says he has tested positive for coronavirus
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 3."
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