Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 16
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.
Panhandling within 50 feet of a store now a crime in Miami Beach
3 p.m.: Citing concerns about the coronavirus, the City of Miami Beach will make it illegal for anyone experiencing homelessness to ask for money or food anywhere near the entrance of a business.
Starting Sunday, panhandling on public property will be “temporarily unlawful” within 50 feet “from the entrance or service window of any essential retail and commercial business or restaurant or food service establishment.”
The new restrictions, which city officials acknowledge may draw legal challenges, are part of the “Phase 1 Reopening Order” signed by City Manager Jimmy Morales on Saturday.
Read the full story here.
Inmate with COVID-19 dies after being taken off ventilator, returned to prison
12:30 p.m.: After two weeks on the ventilator, Henry Camacho, an inmate at Sumter Correctional Institute diagnosed with COVID-19, was able to breathe on his own again. He was so weak that he could hardly use his arms or legs, and he still was not able to swallow solid foods. Nonetheless, he was taken back to his dorm at Sumter on May 8, two days after he was taken off the ventilator. He was given an oxygen tank to use to help his breathing and given applesauce and pudding for sustenance. He was given a walker to use, but he couldn’t stand or walk.
He died Saturday morning, his daughter confirmed to the Miami Herald. His marks the 10th inmate fatality in the Florida prison system.
Camacho, 55, is the youngest inmate to die of the disease. He was serving a life sentence on murder charges.
Read the full story here.
The latest testing numbers in Florida
12:15 p.m.: Florida’s Department of Health on Friday confirmed 673 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s total of confirmed cases to 44,811. There were also 47 new deaths announced, raising the statewide death toll to 1,964.
Read the full story here.
Re-opening rules in Miami-Dade
9 a.m.: Anyone going back to work on Monday needs to wear a face covering, and businesses must test all staff and hire deep cleaners if an employee tests positive for COVID-19.
Those are two of the most sweeping decrees in an order released Friday night by Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez outlining the rules that will be in place once businesses are allowed to reopen Monday.
Both requirements were included in the 175-page draft guideline Gimenez released earlier in the week. The rules were released ahead of Monday’s lifting of emergency closure orders he issued in March that shuttered all but businesses deemed essential.
Read the full story here.
Antibody tests may not be accurate
8:45 a.m.: Over the past month, thousands of Miami-Dade County residents have poured into drive-thru testing sites in Aventura and Bal Harbour seeking the answer to one question: Do I have antibodies for COVID-19?
Armed with city officials’ endorsements, Banyan Medical Systems from Omaha opened a testing site for coronavirus antibodies in a parking garage at Aventura Mall on April 13, then did the same at Bal Harbour Shops on May 4. Banyan has plans for two more, in Doral and Cutler Bay.
But the test Banyan uses to determine whether a person has had the coronavirus has not been validated by federal regulators — like dozens of others that flooded the market after the Food and Drug Administration relaxed rules normally governing medical tests. The test’s accuracy has come under fire by scientists in a California study, and drawn scrutiny from a congressional subcommittee, which told a U.S. distributor of the test that the study results were “deeply troubling” because it found that the test accurately detects antibodies much less often than reported by the manufacturer.
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 Saturday begins.
▪ A catastrophic tally at Miami Springs nursing home: 22 coronavirus deaths
▪ Governor says 9 of 10 people frustrated by unemployment system made application errors
▪ No more walk-in haircuts, trying on clothes gets complex;. Here’s how life will change when stores reopen
▪ South Florida will reopen soon. How can you ensure your workplace stays coronavirus free?
▪ Florida surpasses 44,000 coronavirus cases as death toll nears 2,000
▪ From columnist Carl Hiaasen: ‘We won’t rest until every last tattoo parlor in Texas is open again!’
This story was originally published May 16, 2020 at 9:05 AM with the headline "Coronavirus live updates: Here’s what to know in South Florida on May 16."
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