Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 25
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.
DeSantis: Florida will reopen in phases
3:45 p.m.: Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida is on a slow road to recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, and that social distancing measures will remain in place while he reopens the state in phases — similar to the plan put forth by President Donald Trump in mid-April, but with some variations.
“If you look at that Phase One that the President has laid out, it’s not terribly different from what we’re doing now,” he said at a press conference in Weston on Saturday. But the governor drew some clear lines between his preferred approach and the White House’s plan, which includes guidance on social distancing in restaurants, theaters and sports venues.
Read the full story here.
Layoff notices continue to rise
1:25 p.m.: The numbers on Florida’s official layoff registry are starting to rack up, reflecting the stream of retail, hotel and restaurant layoffs already announced. The online site for so-called WARN notices — Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications — sometimes lags due to administrative and paperwork. Companies with 100 or more employees are required to file Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications with the state when one-third of the workforce is laid off or furloughed.
The list paints a grim picture of devastation in auto dealerships, fitness centers and especially, travel and tourism.
As of April 24, the state Department of Economic Opportunity has verified 785,340 unique claims out of the total 1.9 million that have been filed; of those, it has paid 166,804 claimants a total of more than $192 million, according to a release. While Florida’s flawed unemployment website will be down until Monday, new claims can be filed at www.FloridaJobs.org/RAApplication, according to the state.
Read the full story here.
What some nursing homes might need to do to get COVID-19 liability protection
1 p.m.: Florida nursing homes are pushing to be protected from liability for harm to residents during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
But the industry’s failure to fully comply with a 2018 law requiring nursing homes to have backup electric generators could impede those efforts. Incoming Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, suggested Friday that compliance with the generator requirement could affect how leaders consider requests for lawsuit protections.
“I would suspect the state would have no mercy on folks who are not doing what they are supposed to be doing or should be doing. And if you are one of the facilities of critical care, you need to get your generators in place. Hurricane season starts June 1,” said Simpson, a member of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Re-Open Florida Task Force.
Read the full story here.
More than 11,000 confirmed cases in Miami-Dade
12:10 p.m.: Miami-Dade topped 11,000 confirmed coronavirus cases — accounting for nearly a third of Florida’s total count Saturday morning.
According to the Florida Department of Health, 306 new cases of COVID-19 were added to the state’s tally since Friday evening, bringing Florida’s total to 30,839. The statewide death toll is now 1,055, with nine new deaths announced.
Read the full story here.
County coronavirus call center operator tests positive
11:10 a.m.: After working at the county call center handling inquiries about coronavirus testing and meal requests, a Miami-Dade employee there contracted the virus.
Inson Kim, who runs the county’s communications office, which includes the 311 call centers, said the unidentified employee tested positive on Thursday.
That diagnosis prompted the 311 center in Doral to send home another six people for a 14-day quarantine, Kim said. About 110 people work there.
The call center was still operating Friday after an overnight deep cleaning. Masks aren’t required, but many operators wear them, Kim said.
“If you can function with a mask, and the customer can hear you, that’s okay,” she said. Communications is shifting some operators to working at home, but technology challenges have slowed the pace of that transition, Kim said.
Miami-Dade was forced to send its entire permitting staff home a month ago after reopening their office building after one worker tested positive. After a deep cleaning at the permitting center in Kendall, the building reopened on March 23 only to close two days later after multiple workers tested positive. The county sent home about 400 workers for two weeks of quarantine.
Kim said the county was confident it had identified the workers that would have come in contact with the operator with COVID-19. Each employee identified was sent for testing. “We identified the folks who would be considered in close contact,” she said.
The complications of reopening
9:05 a.m.: Closing parks across Miami-Dade required police tape and locked gates. Reopening will bring a new corps of social-distancing enforcers.
Hundreds of private security guards previously assigned to Hard Rock Stadium are being hired by Miami-Dade’s Parks Department to oversee next week’s planned easing of the two-page order Mayor Carlos Gimenez signed March 19 closing all recreational areas, including city and county parks.
The tentative plan to ease closure orders for parks, marinas and golf courses promises to be a test run for the delicate and far more complicated task of unwinding orders that shuttered hotels, beaches, shops and office buildings across Miami-Dade in an unprecedented effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Read the full story here.
Bird-watching during coronavirus
9 a.m.: Bird-watching often involves high-tech binoculars, detailed field guides, maybe a powerful spotting scope and a tripod. Many bird lovers travel to special spots — parks, beaches, the Everglades — where migrating birds might fly by or where a rare native species sometimes makes an appearance. Birders have the freedom to go find birds wherever they may be.
But during the COVID-19 pandemic, observing wildlife doesn’t involve a whole lot of freedom. This spring migrating season, people in Florida are counting birds from their apartment windows or from their backyards while staying home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
While it may be challenging for birders to be cooped up inside a building or to stay within the boundaries of their property, bird-watching is suddenly taking on a whole new meaning during lockdown. It’s an easy way to connect with nature, and it can be done pretty much anywhere.
Read the full story here.
Catch up to start the day
8:45 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Saturday begins.
▪ There are more than 30,500 confirmed cases in the state.
▪ Recovered COVID-19 patients can help save the lives of others. Hospitals need your blood.
▪ DeSantis allows pharmacies to test for COVID-19 as he contemplates reopening Florida
▪ They wanted to help Key West locals hurt by the COVID-19 crisis, so they dug deep
▪ From columnist Leonard Pitts Jr.: We’re suffering from two pandemics: the coronavirus and senselessness
This story was originally published April 25, 2020 at 9:09 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on April 25."
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