Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 21
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.
MIAMI COULD OFFER SMALL BUSINESSES HELP FOR CORONAVIRUS ECONOMIC RECOVERY
6:30 p.m.: Miami’s city government could create a program to distribute $1 million to keep small businesses afloat during the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioners on Thursday will consider approving a package of assistance programs that aim to help local businesses survive the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read the full story here.
BRAMAN AUTO DEALERSHIPS FURLOUGH AND LAY OFF WORKERS
4:30 p.m.: South Florida auto dealerships owned by billionaire Norman Braman have announced furloughs and layoffs totaling 382 workers.
In letters dated March 30 and filed to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification site, a representative for Braman says 327 workers at dealerships in Miami, West Palm Beach and Greenacres, also in Palm Beach County, will be furloughed for an undetermined length of time. Another 55 workers will be permanently laid off, the letters said.
Read the full story here.
HOW MANY KROME DETAINEES HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THE CORONAVIRUS?
3:40 p.m.: More than half of the detainees inside an immigration detention center in Miami-Dade County have been exposed to COVID-19, U.S. government officials said in a federal court filing Tuesday.
In a sworn statement filed in Miami federal court, Liana J. Castano, the acting director in charge of the Krome facility, said eight staff members have tested positive for the virus and that 350 detainees, whom the government has identified as being exposed to the illness, are being quarantined together, a practice that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement calls “cohorting.”
Read the full story here.
LIST OF COVID-19 TESTING CENTERS IN SOUTH FLORIDA
2:40 p.m.: Several COVID-19 testing centers are up and running in South Florida, with more expected to open in coming weeks. Most of the centers are drive-thru only, which means you need to be in a car or truck with a working window.
Each of the centers also has a criteria for testing eligibility and different sets of hours.
Here’s a full list of testing sites in Miami-Dade, Broward and the Keys. This list will be continuously updated as more testing sites begin to open.
CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS PUSHING TO EXPAND FLORIDA VOTING ACCESS AMID PANDEMIC
1 p.m.: A group of voting rights organizations is suing Florida again over its elections protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic, citing that not enough was done during the March 17 primary to allow registered voters to safely cast a ballot.
In the amended complaint, the groups are asking in part for the state to supplement voter registration outreach efforts, expand mail voting deadlines and make other in-person voting options available. The organizations, which include LatinoJustice Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund, Demos, Advancement Project, Dream Defenders and New Florida Majority, are suing Gov. Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State Laurel Lee and the Florida Elections Canvassing Commission.
Read the full story here.
JLO AND AROD MAKE DONATION
12:15 p.m.: Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez donated 20,000 chef-prepared frozen meals from Tiller & Hatch Supply Co., which they co-own.
Their line of “high-quality and nutritious food” went to unemployed hospitality and restaurant workers across South Florida, who have either been laid off or furloughed due to COVID-19.
The giveaway began Saturday at the Newport Beachside Hotel & Resort. Other hotels set to receive JRod’s meals (sold at Walmart) include The Shelborne and Mondrian in South Beach, DoubleTree By Hilton Ocean Point Resort in Sunny Isles Beach and The Mayfair in Coconut Grove.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA’S UPDATED CASE NUMBERS
11:50 a.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Tuesday morning confirmed 437 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total of confirmed cases to 27,495. There were 16 new deaths announced, raising the statewide death toll to 839.
Miami-Dade County (9,840 confirmed COVID-19 cases) and Broward County (4,149 confirmed COVID-19 cases) combine to make up 50.9 percent of Florida’s confirmed case total.
Read the full update on Florida’s case numbers here. The state’s numbers will be updated again Tuesday evening.
FLORIDA’S LIST OF ELDER-CARE HOMES SEEMS TO BE INCOMPLETE
11 a.m.: In late March, recordings from Hollywood emergency dispatchers showed that an employee of the Lincoln Manor assisted living facility, a home with a politically connected owner, had tested positive for COVID-19 and that two residents had been removed after exhibiting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus.
On Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis, after resisting for weeks, released a list of elder-care homes that had a resident or staff member test positive for the novel coronavirus since March 2. By Tuesday, the list had 313 names, but Lincoln Manor wasn’t one of them.
Three days after the release of the list, some are questioning whether the list is complete and why it doesn’t contain more useful information.
Read the full story here.
THE MIAMI HERALD EDITORIAL BOARD’S TAKE
10:20 a.m.: Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez finds himself doing a delicate dance among science, boosting the county’s withering economy and the call of the wild, as cabin-fevered residents push for a path back to “normal” — preferably a path that winds through a park.
So far, the mayor is overcoming early criticism that he’ll ignore science and open the county too soon, endangering lives as the coronavirus crisis rages on.
But “flattening the curve” must be the highest priority and, so far, the mayor gets it.
Read the entire editorial here ...
CHILDCARE CENTERS SAY STATE HASN’T DONE MUCH TO HELP
9:55 a.m.: While Florida has mandated that child care centers are “essential” businesses, owners of child care centers feel they have been left behind.
In interviews with the Miami Herald, South Florida childcare providers said the Florida Department of Children and Families has not provided any protective equipment or sanitation supplies and they have been left to scramble. Owners said that DCF, which oversees the early learning centers, has also not performed in-person visits to verify that open centers are complying with guidelines stipulated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read the full story here.
SHOULD SOUTH FLORIDA CLOSE STREETS TO MAKE ROOM FOR SOCIAL DISTANCING?
9:45 a.m.: A social distancing turf war is playing out in South Florida and a restless nation. Penned inside by stay-at-home orders and penned outside by park closures, people squeezed onto four-foot-wide sidewalks are seeking six feet of space. They’re asking for streets to be closed to cars so they have room to move safely.
Streets have already been closed to cars in New York City, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. But it’s not happening in Miami, Miami-Dade County or Miami Beach.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:15 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Tuesday begins.
▪ Florida coronavirus cases soar past 27,000 as the statewide death toll jumps to 823
▪ ‘What are we waiting for?’ Miami-Dade mayor ready to reopen parks, marinas, golf courses
▪ DeSantis puts Florida’s reopening task force on tight deadline. Report due Friday
▪ When will the Keys reopen for tourists? Not before other places ease limits, mayor says
▪ Broward Health reopens mobile coronavirus testing site at Festival Marketplace
▪ Publix now requires employees across the chain to cover faces amid coronavirus pandemic
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 9:11 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 21."
