Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 4
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 DOLPHINS GAMES WITH NO FANS OR VERY FEW?
5:10 p.m.: The Miami Dolphins are preparing for the worst-case scenarios of having games with no fans or limited capacity at Hard Rock Stadium if the ongoing health crisis makes that necessary, a league source told the Miami Herald on Monday.
The Dolphins also are preparing for the possibility of having a full stadium this fall, which would be the NFL’s preference if the coronavirus pandemic should allow that.
The idea of playing Dolphins games with 15,000 fans instead of the usual 65,000 was first raised in a report by ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday. A source confirmed that scenario is one of several possibilities the team has prepared for.
Read the full story here.
MIAMI CLOSES FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS AFTER ONE HOUR
3:30 p.m.: Miami’s city government has reached capacity for three financial assistance programs after thousands of people applied in less than an hour Monday.
Administrators are using more than $3 million in federal funding to distribute loans and grants to residential tenants and business owners impacted by the economic downturn amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The city began accepting applications online and over the phone at noon Monday. By 1 p.m., the city had received more than 10,000 applications across the three programs, hitting the administration’s capacity.
Read the full story here.
REASONING BEHIND SOUTH POINTE PARK CLOSURE
2:45 p.m.: The city of Miami Beach announced Monday that it has shut down South Pointe Park until further notice just five days after it reopened under eased coronavirus restrictions.
Here’s why ...
CARNIVAL ANNOUNCES COMEBACK
12:20 p.m.: Carnival Cruise Line plans to resume cruises on Aug. 1, the company announced Monday.
Eight of its 27 ships will begin cruising out of ports in Florida and Texas in August, the company said, while all other cruises will remain canceled through at least Aug. 31. The company had previously said it would cancel all cruises through June 26.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA’S UPDATED CASE NUMBERS
12 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Monday morning confirmed 819 additional cases of COVID-19 as restaurants and shops across the state, except in South Florida, opened their doors to customers for the first time in weeks. The state is now closer to hitting the 37,000 mark, with a total of 36,897 confirmed cases.
Monday’s total daily number is the highest the state has seen since Friday, when a weeklong trend of daily totals under 1,000 was broken. There were also 20 new deaths announced, bringing the statewide death toll to 1,399.
More than half of the newly confirmed cases and half of the deaths were in South Florida.
Read the full update on Florida’s case numbers here. The next update on Florida’s coronavirus numbers will come Tuesday morning.
PALM BEACH BARTENDER SUES DESANTIS FOR EXCLUDING SOUTH FLORIDA IN REOPENING
11:20 a.m.: Restaurants and retailers across the state received the governor’s blessing to reopen Monday, as long as they operate at 25 percent capacity and keep tables six feet apart.
That is, restaurants and retailers outside of South Florida, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order, released last Wednesday. DeSantis’ mandate does not apply to Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade counties, all of which the governor says “have seen the lion’s share of the epidemic.”
Debra Henry, a 40-year South Florida restaurant industry veteran, is suing DeSantis over the order, which she calls an unfair attempt to reopen some businesses in the state but not others.
Read the full story here.
FLORIDA KEYS SLOWLY GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS
11:05 a.m.: The Florida Keys had a limited opening on Monday, with businesses accepting customers at 25 percent capacity and under social distancing rules. Monroe County’s reopening mirrors the rest of Florida, with the exception of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, which are exempted from this first round.
One thing missing in the Keys: tourists. The two highway checkpoints are still up, meaning that no visitors are allowed in. So, this gradual reopening is for locals only.
Read the full story here.
FIVE DAYS AFTER REOPENING, SOUTH BEACH PARK CLOSES
10:55 a.m.: After busy crowds — many not wearing face masks — packed the popular South Pointe Park over the weekend, the city of Miami Beach announced Monday that it has shut down the county park just five days after it reopened under eased coronavirus restrictions.
County parks reopened throughout Miami-Dade on Wednesday more than six weeks after Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez closed them to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, which has infected more people in the county than anywhere else in Florida.
Read the full story here.
THIRD CREW MEMBER FROM ROYAL CARIBBEAN’S OASIS OF THE SEAS DIES
9:55 a.m.: A third crew member of Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis of the Seas cruise ship died Sunday from COVID-19 in a Broward County hospital.
Carlo Baluran, from the Philippines, had been hospitalized several weeks ago before succumbing to the disease early Sunday morning, the company’s CEO, Michael Bayley, said in a statement to crew members Sunday obtained by the Miami Herald. At least 14 crew members from the Oasis of the Seas ship tested positive for COVID-19 in late March and at least nine were evacuated to South Florida hospitals.
Read the full story here.
FEVER-READING DRONES COME WITH PRIVACY CHALLENGES
9:45 a.m.: Last month, police departments in Daytona Beach and Connecticut unveiled what was initially touted as a potential new tool against a pandemic: drones capable of taking a person’s temperature from 300 feet in the air.
Both agencies quickly backtracked on using the machines to track the novel coronavirus after backlash from civil liberty groups warning about the implications of a “Big Doctor” in the sky singling out people simply for running a fever, when it might be nothing more than a more common and less deadly flu.
They raised other concerns as well: Are cops supposed to be monitoring health information that is private under federal law? Are drone readings, even with sophisticated infrared sensors, a trustworthy way to protect public health without violating individual rights?
Read the full story here.
MIAMI JAIL INMATE, BELIEVED TO HAVE CORONAVIRUS, DIES
9:35 a.m.: A Miami-Dade jail inmate believed to have contacted the novel coronavirus has died while hospitalized after suffering a “medical emergency” while behind bars, the Miami Herald has learned.
It was unclear Monday morning whether Charles Hobbs Jr., 51, was officially killed by COVID-19, the illness caused by the highly contagious virus that has caused a global pandemic and infected over 300 inmates in the county’s three jails.
The Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department on Sunday confirmed that Hobbs, who had been an inmate at the Metro West Detention Center, had died. A spokesman, however, declined to say whether COVID-19 was the cause of death.
If COVID-19 killed Hobbs, he would be the first Miami-Dade jail inmate to die from the illness.
Read the full story here.
CATCH UP TO START THE DAY
9:10 a.m.: Here are the coronavirus headlines to catch you up on what’s happening around South Florida and the state as Monday begins.
▪ Florida coronavirus cases surpass 36,000. South Florida positive test rates decrease
▪ How safe is Florida’s reopening plan? Public health experts give a candid critique
▪ Hialeah, Miami offering coronavirus financial relief grants. Applications open Monday
▪ A COVID-19 testing site opens Monday at a Walmart near Hialeah. But before you go ...
▪ What will summer camps be like in the year of coronavirus? Nobody knows
▪ Royal Caribbean executives agree to the CDC’s terms for disembarking crew stuck on ships
▪ Florida hits grim milestone: over 1 million workers have filed unemployment claims
▪ VIDEO: Protesters call for the reopening of Miami-Dade
This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 9:16 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 4."
